Southern elephant seal by Kai Müller

About "Southern elephant seal"

by Kai Müller

About the artwork

Southern elephant seals breed mainly in four areas around Antarctica. Large colonies are found on the Valdes Peninsula (Argentina), on the sub-Antarctic islands of South Georgia, Grozet, Kerguelen, Macquarie and Falkland. Except for breeding (September-November), elephant seals only come ashore to renew their fur (January-April). Elephant seals have adapted to living in the sea by developing a strong insulating layer of fat that keeps them warm. The fat layer also serves as a reserve store of food. During their oceanic phase, they travel several thousand kilometres.

Females become sexually mature at about 3 years of age, males at 4-6 years. Elephant seals mate in so-called colony groups. The males maintain harems with up to several dozen females. A few weeks before the females, the male bulls arrive on the beaches to establish their territories. The competition among the bulls is enormous and sometimes bloody fights develop for the best places.

They are very strong and impress with their trunk-like nose, which they can inflate. When the females also come ashore a few weeks later, the highest-ranking bull elephant seal is already decided. Shortly after the females arrive, they give birth to their black "pups", which weigh about 30-40 kg at birth. The young are suckled for a good three weeks. The mother's milk is very nutritious with 51% fat content, and the young grow up extremely quickly. After only 4 weeks, they already weigh about 140-180 kg and from now on they are self-sufficient.