Southern Elephant Seal

Fascinating facts about the Southern Elephant Seal

• Four-to-five-times heavier males make southern elephant seals the most sexually dimorphic mammals on Earth. Females weigh 350-900 kg and measure 2.6-3 m, while bulls tip the scales at 3,000-3,700 kg and stretch 4.6-5.8 m long. This size gap fuels brutal harem battles, where the biggest bulls win access to dozens of females.
• Diving deeper than any other air-breathing non-cetacean, southern elephant seals can stay underwater for over 20 minutes and routinely hunt at 400-1,000 m, with a recorded plunge of 2,388 m. Such depth lets them chase squid and fish, making them key sentinels of deep-sea ecosystem health and climate-driven changes in prey distribution.
• From a mid-1990s low of 650,000, the global southern elephant seal count rose to nearly 700,000 by 2025, with three oceanic subpopulations: over 400,000 in the South Atlantic, up to 200,000 in the Indian Ocean, and about 75,000 in the Pacific. This rebound shows the species' resilience after 19th-century hunting, yet regional declines hint at hidden pressures on food supply or climate.
• On land, a seal can sprint up to 10 km/h (6.2 mph) using its webbed hind-limb "feet" and rear flippers, a burst speed that lets a bull chase a wandering female or chase off an intruder. This rapid locomotion, rare for a creature that otherwise waddles, underscores how even brief land movements are crucial for securing mates and defending territories.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Southern Elephant Seal

In the harsh, windswept landscapes of the Southern Ocean, the Southern Elephant Seal reigns as a behemoth of the frozen tundra, its massive, blubbery form undulating as it hauls itself across the rocky shores with a slow, deliberate pace. As it moves, the seal's proboscis-like snout twitches with an almost imperceptible sensitivity, guiding it through the dark, icy waters in search of the squid and fish that sustain it. With a deep, rumbling bellow, the seal announces its presence to the world, a primal call that echoes across the desolate landscape like a challenge to the very elements themselves.

Seen on screen

More ocean life to discover

Browse Feravox