Elephant Seal

The elephant seal is a large seal that spend the majority of its life in the ocean. Their are two species of elephant seals. There is the northern elephant seal species, which lives primarily in the northern Pacific Ocean off of the coast of North America, and the larger southern elephant seal species which lives primarily in the frigid waters surrounding Antarctica. Elephant seals spend about 8 to 10 months a year living in the ocean. They are able to dive 1000 to 5000 .feet in search of their favorite prey such as octopus, squid, and large fish. They have a high proportion of red blood cells which enables them to hold their breath for about 100 minutes. Layers of blubber enable them to survive the frigid temperatures of the deep waters.

 Twice a year the elephant seals come to shore. In the fall they come ashore for mating and breeding. Males gather harems of females which they protect from other males. Fights over females can be common. Much of these altercations consist of the males roaring from their long snout, which the elephant seals are named for. The other time that elephant seals come to land is in the Spring when they "haul out" on the beach in order to shed their old skin and hair and grow a net set. While they are in the ocean the blood stays under the blubber so that it stays warm but when they need to grow new skin they need some blood to pass through the blubber and feed the new growing skin. At this time they are vulnerable to the cold so they will spend about a month on the beach growing their new skin. Unfortunately this left them vulnerable to hunters who killed them for their oils. By the end of the 19th century the elephant seal was almost extinct but with new protections their populations have rebounded. I photographed these seals at Point Reyes on the California coast.