How big is an elephant seal?

Southern elephant seal: 2,200 – 4,000 kg
Northern elephant seal: 1,500 – 2,300 kg
Elephant seals/Mass

What is bigger an elephant or an elephant seal?

Southern elephants are the largest of all seals. Males can be over 20 feet long and weigh up to 8,800 pounds. But these massive pinnipeds aren’t called elephant seals because of their size.

Are elephant seals polygyny?

Elephant seals are known from long-term behavioral studies to be highly polygynous and to show high variance in reproductive success among males. Elephant seals are among the most sexually dimorphic and polygynous species of all mammals (Le Boeuf and Reiter, 1988; McCann, 1981).

Is an elephant seal bigger than a walrus?

True Seals The largest seal is the Southern elephant seal (bigger than even the walrus) and the smallest is the ringed seal. True seals lack ear flaps and propel themselves through the water with their hind flippers.

What is the largest elephant seal ever recorded?

Southern elephant
These seals are famous for being big. They are the biggest of pinnipeds – bigger even than walruses – there being a record of a giant male Southern elephant seal that was between 6.5 and 6.8 m long and weighed over 4000 kg (Carwardine 1995).

Can you pet an elephant seal?

Seals are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. It is against the law to touch, feed or otherwise harass seals. Harassment occurs whenever your behavior changes their behavior. The rule is to keep at least 50 yards, four car lengths, away — to give them their space.

What is the biggest elephant seal ever recorded?

Southern elephant seal

What is the largest seal in the world?

southern elephant seal
The southern elephant seal is a true seal and is the largest pinniped (seal or sea lion) and carnivoran (hairy carnivore) in the world. Adult males are enormous – at least six times larger than polar bears and nearly twice the size of the next largest seal (the northern elephant seal).

Why do elephant seals have big noses?

Elephant seals aren’t named for their size. Rather, the males develop noses that kind of look like elephants’ trunks. They inflate their noses in order to scare other males away — to mate, they have to fight for dominance.

Do elephant seals eat penguins?

The other two species – Antarctic and sub-Antarctic fur seals, and southern elephant seals – are both found north of the pack-ice zone and breed in dense colonies on beaches. Seals are carnivorous and, depending on species, eat fish, squid or krill. The leopard seal will also eat penguins and other seals.

Who is stronger walrus or elephant seal?

A bull southern elephant seal is about 40% heavier than a male northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris), twice as heavy as a male walrus (Odobenus rosmarus),, 6–7 times heavier than the largest living mostly terrestrial carnivorans, the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) and the Kodiak bear (Ursus arctos middendorffi …

How big is the largest elephant seal?

The massive seal is a southern elephant seal that lives in California. The largest elephant seals can be 20 feet long and can weigh up to 9,000 pounds. As the BBC broadcaster says, elephant seals rarely encounter people, but when they do, they really throw their weight around! Southern elephants are the largest of all seals.

Is the southern elephant seal the largest seal?

Southern Elephant Seal – Mirounga leonina. Description. The Southern Elephant Seal is the largest of all seals in the world. The males can weigh up to 8,500 lb and the females 2,000 lb. The males are generally twice as long as the females. The males can be up to 20 feet in length. They are a dark brown to light gray in color just like elephants.

How much does an elephant seal weigh?

The huge male northern elephant seal typically weighs 1,500–2,300 kg (3,300–5,100 lb) and measures 4–5 m (13–16 ft), although some males can weigh up to 3,700 kg (8,200 lb). Females are much smaller and can range from 400 to 900 kg (880 to 1,980 lb) in weight, or roughly a third of the male’s bulk, and measure from 2.5 to 3.6 m…

What is the classification of an elephant seal?

Elephant seals are marine mammals classified under the order Pinnipedia, which in Latin, means feather or fin footed. Elephant seals are considered true seals, and fall under the family Phocidae.

How big is an elephant seal? Southern elephant seal: 2,200 – 4,000 kg Northern elephant seal: 1,500 – 2,300 kg Elephant seals/Mass What is bigger an elephant or an elephant seal? Southern elephants are the largest of all seals. Males can be over 20 feet long and weigh up to 8,800 pounds. But these massive pinnipeds aren’t…