Identification Photos: Northern Elephant Seal, Mirounga angustirostris: The Elephant Seal is dark grey to brown in coloration. The females reach up to 10 feet in length and 2,000 pounds; the males reach up to 16 feet in length and 5,000 pounds; the pups arrive at 4 feet in length and 75 pounds. Elephant Seal pups are black in color and will triple their length the first month. The male has a big, floppy nose called a proboscis.

The Elephant Seal makes an annual summer migration, up to 21,000 miles per year, from Mexican and California waters to Alaska and the Pacific Northwest where it spends 6 to 8 months at sea, diving continuously and being submerged 86 percent of the time. Routine dives reach depths of 300 feet. Dives have been recorded to 5,187 feet. Dives can last 40 minutes or longer, during which the seals consume crabs, fish, octopus, small sharks and squid. In the fall they return south and soon thereafter undergo an annual epidermal molt where they shed the first layer of skin and fur. During the period December through February (annual mating season) the males are known to have fights that include visual and vocal threats and physical battles. Beachmasters develop pink “chest shields” with age from fighting and have been known to collect harems with more than 50 cows.

The Northern Elephant Seal is the largest pinniped of a group of several seals comprising the Phocidae Family.

The Elephant Seal was hunted to near extinction in the 1880s with population estimates of less than 100, but as a species protected by both the Mexican and United States governments, it has made an excellent recovery with the current population estimated, during the winter, to be 130,000, of which 100,000 are found off the coast of California and 30,000 off the coast of Mexico.

In Mexican waters the Elephant Seal is found as far south as Bahia Sebastian Vizcaíno, Baja California Sur. The normal life span is 22 years. The Elephant Seal is preyed upon by Great White Sharks and Killer Whales. Pups are killed during periods of El Ñino weather due to high tides washing them to sea before they have learned how to swim.

Northern Elephant Seal, Mirounga angustirostris: Photo courtesy Richard Herrmann.