Southern Elephant Seal
Mirounga leonina
Also known as: South Atlantic Elephant-Seal, Southern Sea Elephant
Habitat
Aquatic
Diet
Invertebrate
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
1600.0 kg
About This Species
The largest seal species, this animal hauls out in dense colonies on sub-Antarctic and southern ocean beaches, where bull males with their inflatable proboscis roar and fight for control of harems during the spring breeding season. Outside breeding, both sexes come ashore separately to moult, lying largely immobile on the beach for weeks. Spring, during the breeding and pupping period, offers the most dramatic viewing, though colonies can be seen at haul-out sites through much of the year.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Keep well back, at minimum tens of metres and further from breeding bulls or mothers with pups, since this is a very large, powerful animal capable of moving surprisingly fast over short distances and adults can be aggressive when defending territory or young.
- Most sub-Antarctic breeding sites lie within national parks or nature reserves where minimum approach distances are set by local regulation and rangers or permits may control access; always follow site-specific rules rather than a general rule of thumb.
- Never position yourself between an animal and the sea, and give more space than feels necessary around pups and breeding males.
Seasonal Activity
987,503 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Carnivora
- Family
- Phocidae
Traits
- Diet
- Invertebrate
- Foraging
- Aquatic
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 1600.0 kg
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.