Elephant seals are the world's largest carnivores. Elephant seals: species, description, reproduction, nutrition, behavior and conservation status

Its name sea ​​Elephant received thanks to located above oral cavity a process that resembles a trunk. The trunk, 30 cm long, grows in males closer to eight years of life, in females the process is completely absent.

An interesting fact about the elephant seal is the property of the trunk to increase in size up to 60-80 cm during sexual arousal. Males shake their proboscis in front of competitors in the hope of scaring them.

Description and features of the elephant seal

About marine elephants researchers collected a large number of information. On the photo elephant seal reminds: the body of an animal is streamlined, the head is small in size with a trunk on which vibrissae are located (whiskers with high sensitivity), the eyeballs have the shape of a flattened oval and are painted in dark color, the limbs are replaced by fins, which are equipped with long claws reaching 5 cm.

Elephant seals are poorly adapted to life on land, since their obese body prevents them from moving: one step of a large animal is only about 35 cm. Due to their sluggishness, they warm themselves on the shore almost all the time and sleep.

In the photo is an elephant seal

Their sleep is so deep that they even snore, biologists during their rest even managed to measure the temperature and heart rate. Another interesting fact about elephant seals is the ability of animals to sleep underwater.

This process takes place as follows: 5-10 minutes after falling asleep rib cage expands, as a result of which the density of the body decreases slightly and it slowly floats up.

After the body is on the surface, the nostrils open and the elephant breathes for about 3 minutes, after this time it sinks back into the water column. The eyes and nostrils are closed during underwater rest.

The elephant seal can submerge and float during sleep.

People who first encounter this animal have a question: What an elephant seal looks like? Male elephant seals are much larger than females. If the body length of a male is on average about 5-6 m, elephant seal weight- can reach 3 tons, body length of individuals female only 2.5 - 3 m, weight - 900 kg. This type of elephant has a characteristic gray thick fur.

Elephant seals living in have little big sizes their northern relatives - weight about 4 tons, length - 6 m, and their fur is colored brown. In water, animals move at a fairly high speed up to 23 km / h.

Pictured is a northern elephant seal

Elephant seal lifestyle and habitat

Elephant seals spend most of their time in their native element - water. On land, they are selected only for mating and molting. The time of their stay on the surface of the earth does not exceed 3 months.

Places, where elephant seals live depends on their type. Exists Northern elephant seal living on the coasts North America, and southern elephant seal whose place of residence is Antarctica.

Animals lead a solitary life, gather together only to conceive offspring. While on land, elephant seals live on beaches strewn with pebbles or stones. The rookery of animals can have more than 1000 individuals. Elephant seals are calm, even slightly phlegmatic animals.

Elephant seal food

Elephant seals feed on cephalopods and. According to some information, the elephant seal, which is about 5 m long, eats 50 kg. fishes.

Due to its large physique, a lot of air is trapped in a large volume of blood, which helps elephant seals dive to a depth of about 1400 meters in search of food.

During deep immersion under water, the activity of all important organs slows down in an animal - this process significantly reduces the consumption of oxygen - animals are able to retain air for up to two hours.

The elephant's skin is thick and covered with tough short hair. The animal has a lot of fatty deposits, which are somewhat burned during the mating season, when they do not eat at all.

V Antarctica elephant seals go in the warm season in search of prey. During migration, they are able to overcome the path, the length of which is about 4800 km.

Reproduction and lifespan of an elephant seal

Males reach sexual maturity at 3-4 years of age. But at this age they mate very rarely, because they are still not strong enough to defend the right to mate with other Scythians. Males acquire sufficient physical strength at the age of no earlier than eight years.

When the mating season comes (and this time is from August to October for the southern elephant seal, February for gray elephant seal), animals gather in large groups, where 10 to 20 females fall per male.

The fiercest battles are waged between the males for the right to possess the harem in the center of the colony: the males shake their short trunk, roar loudly and rush at the enemy in order to inflict as many injuries as possible with the help of sharp fangs.

Despite their large physique, in a fight, males can almost completely raise their body, remaining above the ground only on one tail. Weak young males are pushed to the edge of the colony, where conditions for mating females are much worse.

After the owner of the harem is established, already pregnant females give birth to cubs that were conceived the previous year. Pregnancy lasts a little less than a year(11 months). The body length of a newborn cub is 1.2 m, weight is 50 kg.

The body of the cub is covered with soft brown fur, which sheds a month after birth. The brown fur is replaced by a dark gray thick fur. After the birth of offspring, the female brings up and feeds him with milk for a month, and then again mates with the male.

At the end of the month, the young live on the shore for a couple of weeks, while not eating anything, letting on the previously accumulated fat. The offspring is sent to the water two months after birth.

And the whites are worst enemies for young elephant seals. Since mating elephant seals the process is quite intense (fighting, "persuading" the female), most of the cubs die due to the fact that they are simply crushed.

The life span of males is about 14 years, of females - 18 years. This difference arises from the fact that males receive many serious injuries during competition, which worsens general state health. Often, injuries are so severe that animals cannot recover from them and die.

A funny nose, reminiscent of an elephant's trunk, has an important purpose - it is an indicator of the male's maturity and strength, and also warns the "youth" that they are facing an experienced fighter.
SIZES. Length: males - 4.9 m, females - 3 m. Weight of a male - 2,400 kg, females - 680 kg.
REPRODUCTION. Puberty: females at 3-5 years old, males at 9-10 years old. Mating season: September and October. Pregnancy: 11 months. Number of pups: 1.
LIFESTYLE. Habits: gather in colonies Food: fish and cephalopods Life expectancy: up to 14 years.
Related species. There are only 2 types of elephant seals: northern and southern. There are two known species of elephant seals, one of which lives in the Southern Hemisphere and the other in the Northern. In the south, in Antarctic waters, the southern elephant seal lives, and in the north, off the coast of California and Mexico, its species has settled in the north.
REPRODUCTION. Male elephant seals go to land earlier than females in order to protect their site. Fierce battles take place between them. Males are fierce opponents, often inflicting severe wounds on each other. The female, going out on land, gives birth to a cub, born a year before.
The mother feeds him for four weeks and mates again immediately thereafter. Males do not wait for the lactation period to end, and therefore many females are abused by them, while being seriously injured. As a result of this behavior, males die about 10 percent of the pups. Females face another danger - males await them in the sea, who were expelled from their territories on land by strong rivals.
HABITS. Elephant seals gather on land twice a year - during the mating season and in the fall, during moulting. Hundreds of elephant seals swim to the beach in autumn, swim in swampy puddles. They carry unbearably strong odors. At this time they are sedentary, most of the time they spend lying down. During molting, they cannot enter the water and therefore starve. The upper layers of their skin come off along with the hair.
FOOD. Elephant seals feed on fish and cephalopods that are caught on the high seas. Recent studies on the California coast, during which the depths of animals were measured, showed that elephant seals can dive to a depth of 1,000 meters. They feed on marine animals, octopuses and even small sharks. Elephant seals have rather long canines that protrude from the gums by about four centimeters; molars are poorly developed, so they prefer prey with a soft body, do not require thorough chewing.
FEATURES OF THE DEVICE. Pinnipeds evolved from land animals and adapted to life in the water. They swim great. They have a thick layer of fat, which helps to keep cold water constant body temperature. During molting and mating, fatty layers serve as a source of energy. Pinnipeds laboriously move on land, but they are very mobile in water. During swimming, the hind legs are used as a rudder, and the front ones perform rowing movements. On land to cool off elephant seals front flippers pour sand on their backs.
Did you know… Male elephant seals are very large. It was difficult to determine their body weight. An autopsy of a dead elephant found that the skin alone weighed 115 kg, the fat layer - 660 kg, the heart - 42 kg, and the head - 52 kg. The difference in the size of the male and female elephant seal is a record. This is the most famous difference between the sexes. Elephant seals migrate long distances. A long way elephant seal migration ran in the direction of South Alaska and totaled more than 5000 km.
Sea Elephant is not at all afraid of a person and does not try to hide when he sees her. Sailors, for example, could sit astride it without fear of being harmed by an elephant.
The record holder for size among elephant seals was a male named Spot, which was kept at Edinburgh Zoo. It weighed 3 tons and was 4.47 m long. The elephant seal has long been hunted for its fat. 3 large males can get about 350 liters of fat.
CHARACTERISTICS OF SEA ELEPHANT. A distinctive feature of the adult male is a leathery pouch located on the upper side of the muzzle, which plays the main role in attracting females during the rut. When the male is excited, his pouch is stretched by 28 cm. During the loud roar of animals, he is a resonator of sounds. The female weighs three times less than the male, therefore, during the mating period, a huge and aggressive male poses a serious danger to her.
LIVING PLACE. The southern elephant seal lives in Antarctica and reproduces there. Northern elephant seal lives in western coastal waters South America and breeds in California.
Preservation. V late XIX century, the elephant seal was practically exterminated by hunters for

Elephant seals are giants from the family of true seals. They are very similar to hooded seals, but are much larger in size. There are only 2 types of elephant seals in nature: northern and southern.

They justify their name 100%. They are so huge that apart from the elephants they cannot be compared with anyone else.
They grow up to 5 meters in length and weigh up to 2.5 tons!

Females are somewhat smaller than their "men". They rarely grow more than 3 meters. The elephant seal is distinguished from other representatives of real seals by the amount of subcutaneous fat. They can accumulate it in astronomical proportions. Fat can be 35% of the total weight.

They also look like elephants because of the fleshy outgrowth on the nose. Of course, this is not a full-fledged elephant trunk, but in comparison, this detail is not at all important.

This "tool" is used as a resonator during menacing roars, and as a frightening element during mating games.

Females do not have such an attribute of masculinity.

The skin of an elephant seal, as befits an elephant, is rough and thick. It is covered with short, thick fur. Adults are all brown. The young are silvery gray.

Southern elephant seals live on the shores of Patagonia and on the subantarctic islands. The northern ones took a fancy to the North American shores, spreading from Mexico and California to Canada. Elephant seals are rarely seen alone. They form huge rookeries on pebble beaches.

Elephant seals form two types of rookeries. On one, they "build" eyes at each other. This is what these rookeries are called - feeding grounds.

And then there are breeding grounds. There, the females produce offspring and raise the young. This state of affairs is very wise. Elephant seals are very clumsy on land. With their weight, they can simply destroy all young growth. Therefore, maternity hospitals and Kindergarten are located several hundred kilometers from the feeding beach.

Elephant seals feed on molluscs. Sometimes they can eat with a small fish.

These animals are very calm and lethargic. But! If you get the opportunity to contemplate them firsthand - do not test their patience for too long!

Cubs are born once a year. The mating season begins in August-September, when southern hemisphere spring begins.

First, adult males and females arrive at the beach. Young animals arrive a little later. Males begin to divide the beach, taking their own pieces of territory. They zealously guard their "grooves" of the beach from other males. If necessary, they engage in battle with each other. The males inflate their proboscis, roar menacingly and bite each other until they are bloody and severely injured. What can I say ... Love is evil.

The female becomes someone's simply by coming to the territory of this male. Once you have come, then you need to mate. Unless, of course, her opponent takes her away.

Some males manage to form a large harem of females. There can be up to 30 representatives of the fairer sex. Pregnancy lasts up to 11 months. The most interesting thing is that the mating season just falls on the birthing season.

Having fed her offspring with milk for only one month, mommy is in a hurry to conceive again. Babies, by the way, at birth they weigh up to 30 kilograms, leave the rookery, and wait a couple more months until the molt has passed. At this time, they practically do not eat anything, and are alive only because mother's milk is an explosive mixture of proteins and carbohydrates, frantic in calories. Sucked in and laid back in subcutaneous fat for a month, it is enough to maintain strength for another 2 months.

Elephant seals are considered enemies in nature

Thoughtless human activity almost ruined one of the curious species of animals - the elephant seal. They got their name not only for their huge size (these animals but also for a kind of nasal growth. Thick and fleshy, it looks like an underdeveloped trunk. It is not used as a hand, like a real land elephant, but "works" as a resonator organ, several times amplifying the sound of the roar.He also shows the surrounding relatives how formidable and powerful his master is.

Description

The elephant seal belongs to the pinnipeds, a family of true seals. They are even larger than walruses and are the largest in their class of predators. They are distinguished by their heavy build, very rough skin, covered with fur. Body fat can be up to 30% of the live weight of an elephant. Sexual dimorphism is very pronounced - the size of the males is much larger than the size of the females. Another difference is that females do not have a trunk. Two types are known: northern and southern.

The elephant seal dives beautifully, can hold its breath for up to 2 hours and descend to a depth of almost two kilometers. Its speed in water is up to 23 km / h. Their food is fish, molluscs, plankton, cephalopods. Among the main enemies (except for humans) are killer whales and large sharks... No one threatens them on the shore, so they are very careless and can afford to sleep soundly, often with loud snoring. On land, they move with difficulty, pulling up their carcass on their front flippers. For one such "throw" animals cover a distance of no more than 35 cm.

Females reach sexual maturity by 3-4 years, males at 6-7 years. Breeding season is once a year. It begins with the fact that adult (from 8 years old) males are the first to swim to rookeries and occupy sections of the beach. Then the females pull up and, entering the "conquered" territory, automatically become members of the harem. One elephant sometimes has up to 50 females (usually within 20). Fights for females can be very violent. During an intense duel, the elephant seal rises in full gigantic growth holding the body in upright position on one tail. Young males (up to 8 years old) usually live on the periphery of the rookery and do not try to argue with the owners of the harems.

Pregnancy lasts 11 months. Usually females start giving birth 5-6 days after arriving ashore. Newborn babies feed exclusively on mother's milk for 4-5 weeks. They are born weighing up to 50 kg, up to 120 cm long. A month later, they move to the outskirts of the rookery and after molting, at the age of 3-4 months, they go to sea. Females after feeding babies are ready for mating.

Yuzhny

The sizes of animals: males - 6 meters in length, weight up to 4 tons, females are three times smaller. The southern elephant seal (photo in the text) has its own peculiarity: it has a clear division between rookeries. Some are used as "maternity wards", others a few hundred kilometers away for feeding. Islands - breeding sites:

• Kerguelen.
• Campbell.
• Crozet.
• Macquarie.
• Morion.
• Tierra del Fuego.
• Auckland.
• Prince Edward.
• Falkland
• Hurd.
• South Georgia.
• South Orkney.
• South Sandwich.
• South Shetland.

The mating period is between September and November. Today the total number of animals is up to 700,000 heads.

Northern

The northern cousin differs little in lifestyle. Mating takes place in February. It has permanent rookeries where the elephant seal swims for breeding and for the molting period. The mainland (western coast of North America) from Mexico to Canada with pebble beaches or gentle rocky shores has long been chosen by water giants. It is inferior in size to its southern brother, males grow up to 5 meters, their weight fluctuates within 2.5 tons. They have a large trunk up to 30 cm, in an excited state it increases to 70 cm. Females weigh up to 900 kg, body length up to 3.5 meters.

It was the northern elephant seals that took the brunt of extermination. After tough measures to ban fishing, their population today has grown to 15 thousand individuals. Not bad, considering that there were about a hundred of them left.

Elephant seals ( Mirounga) - largest genus in the family of real seals,. There are two types of elephant seals, named according to the hemisphere in which they live. Northern elephant seals ( Mirounga angustirostris) are found in coastal waters around Canada and Mexico, and southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina) are common off the coast of New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina.

Description

The oldest confirmed fossils of these animals are from and were found in New Zealand.

Only the adult male has a large trunk, similar to. The male uses it to roar during the mating season.

Southern elephant seals are slightly larger than northern elephant seals. pronounced, males of both species are much larger than females. Average weight an adult male of the southern species can be 3000 kg, and the body length reaches 5 m.An adult female weighs about 900 kg, and her body length is about 3 m.

The color of the animal depends on sex, age and season. It can be rusty, light or dark brown, or gray.

The elephant seal has a large body, short toe-footed front flippers, and webbed hind flippers. There is a thick layer of fat under the skin that protects the animal in cold weather. Every year, elephant seals molt.

The average life expectancy is between 20 and 22 years.

Reproduction

Elephant seals are solitary animals. They return to the established nesting colonies every winter. Females become sexually mature at the age of 3 to 6 years, and males at 5-6 years.

However, males must reach alpha status for mating, which usually occurs between the ages of 9 and 12. Males fight each other using body weight and teeth. While deaths are rare, injuries are common. An alpha male's harem ranges from 30 to 100 females. Other males are found at the edges of the colony, sometimes mating with females before alpha males chase them. Males remain on land during the winter to defend territory.

About 79% of adult females mate, but only more than half of them produce offspring. The gestation period lasts about 11 months, at the end of which one cub appears. The female's milk contains extremely high percent fat content, more than 50% (compared to 4% fat content of milk in women). Females do not eat for one month to feed the young. The next pairing occurs during last days feeding.

Nutrition and behavior

Elephant seals are mammals. Their diet includes squid, octopus, eels, fish, krill, and sometimes. Males hunt at the bottom, while females hunt in the open ocean. Elephant seals use the sight and vibration of their whiskers (vibrissae) to find food. They can attack sharks, killer whales and humans.

These animals spend about 20% of their life on land and about 80% in the ocean. Although they are, elephant seals are capable of outperforming humans on land. At sea, they develop at a speed of 5-10 km / h.

Elephant seals can dive on great depths... Males spend more time underwater than females. An adult male is able to stay under water for about two hours and dive to a depth of about 2 km.

Conservation status

Elephant seals were hunted for their meat, fur, and fat. Poaching has led to the fact that the species were on the verge of extinction. By 1892, most people believed the northern elephant seals were extinct. But in 1910, a single breeding colony was discovered near Guadalupe Island off the coast of the Mexican state of Baja California. In the late 19th century, new conservation legislation was introduced marine environment to protect these animals. Elephant seals are no longer endangered today, although they are at risk of becoming entangled in debris and fishing nets, and may also be injured in collisions with watercraft. They are listed by the IUCN as the animals of Least Concern.

• Scientists have determined that when warm temperature water is born more males than females.
• The screeching of orcs in the Moria mines in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was the sound of baby elephant seals.
• In 2000, a male elephant seal named Homer terrorized the New Zealand city of Gisborne. Homer attacked cars, boat trailers, garbage bins, trees and even a transformer.