Physical Description

  

      
          The northern elephant seal is generally brown in color although there can be variations. Males are usually a darker brown while females are a light tan color. Hair is slim on males and completely absent on females for a short time after shedding. Newborns have black hair until they shed the black coat and replace it with a lighter one. All adults and youngsters display a darker pigment on the dorsal side and lighter pigment ventrally. Elephant seals have two lobed hind flippers. Males are known for their inflated proboscics on their face. This is absent in famales and is larger compared to the southern elephant seals. Young males develop this at 2 years of age but it's not fully developed until it's 8th year of maturity. These mammals are among the largest group  of aquatic carnivores in the Northern Hemisphere. Females typically weigh 600 to 900 kg and males which outweigh females by 3 to 10 times can top at 2300 kg. Females reach a length of 3.1 m on average and males are usually 4 to 5 m. Newborns generally weigh about 47 kg at birth. They weigh about 147 kg and measure between 1.5 m between 24 and 28 days old.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-cC7oY1T9E (Birth)

Reproduction/Competition/Population

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J__pZNPpYc8 (Mating)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2HFpgx2Ss4 (Fighting)

     Once mating season comes around male Elephant seals claim there territory. Each male then tries to collect up to 40-50 females. the females are a lot smaller then the males. the males weighing about 8 thousand pounds while the females only about one 2 thousand pounds. males battle each other for females and dominance. the get into deadly wrestling matches standing tall up next to each other and then taking turns pecking each others necks. Roaring and growling are common noises while the elephant seals are duking it out. Although the fights get aggressive and very bloody usually there is no fatality. Besides sexual competition between males, elephant seals have to worry about commercial fishing, as they are taking many fish and squid out of the ocean. this results in less food for the elephant seals. in 1890 because of hunters the total elephant seal population was as few as twenty elephant seals. since then they have made a huge increase in population with more then 100,000 seals.

Food Habits

     Elephant Seals try to feed by diving deep to avoid their predators. They are eaten by the Great white shark and the killer whale. Because of their large size, they don't have many predators. Northern elephant seals mostly feed at night eating octopus, squid, small sharks, skates and fish. Females and males feed separately from each other; females go farther west and to deeper waters, while males stay closer to land while traveling  north.

Habitat

     Northern Elephant seals live on the sandy, rocky, or muddy shores of the coastline, particularly on offshore islands. They can be found on the sandy beaches of California and Baja California though they prefer to be on offshore over the North American mainland. On these beaches they breed and and raise pups among the sand dunes. They typically are in large groups on land. Seals spend only 10% of their time on land during  reproduction and when they shed their skin. The other 90% is spent in the water diving and looking for food and only 11% of their time in the water is spent at the surface. This means that an extraordinary 85-90% of their time is spent at sea and under water. These mammals, can dive exceptionally well to almost a mile deep and can hold their breath for 20 to 70 minutes. Elephant seals are found as far north as Alaska and as far south as Baja California. they feed off the coast of Alaska and then migrate south down to southern California and Baja California to breed. when feeding at sea males tend to be found over continental shelves and females go farther west, too deeper water to hunt.

Elephant Seals Rock!