Question: Why Do Elephant Seals Have Weird 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.

What are elephant seals noses called?

Northern elephant seal pups are black until they are weaned at about 6 weeks old, and they molt and turn light silver. Adults are dark brown or gray. When males reach puberty at about 7 years old, they develop a large inflatable nose, or “proboscis.” The proboscis overhangs their lower lip by about 8 inches.

Why do elephant seals smell bad?

And since they don’t go anywhere, they “go” right where they lie. Between the molting, the bodily waste, and the decomposing bodies of seals that didn ‘t survive, one can guess why the colony smells so bad.

Why do elephant seals throw sand on themselves?

Why do they flip sand? Their bodies are designed to keep warm in cold water. Sand flipping helps them keep cool on land by acting as a sunscreen. In addition, they sometimes can be seen flipping sand under stressful conditions.

What special features do elephant seals have?

Adult male elephant seals belonging to the northern species tend to have a larger proboscis, and thick chest area with a red coloration compared to the southern species. Females do not have the large proboscis and can be distinguished between species by looking at their nose characteristics.

Do elephant seals eat sharks?

They can eat all kinds of large prey – including tuna, rays, other sharks, dolphins, whales, seals, sea lions, sea otters and birds. Elephant seals get their name because the males – called bulls – have a huge trunk-like proboscis.

How long can elephant seals hold their breath?

Male elephant seals can hold their breath for longer than almost any other mammal, diving beneath the waves for up to two hours without surfacing for air. Elephant seals live for just two months of the year on land.

What do you call a baby elephant seal?

Sea elephants, as these seals are sometimes called, give birth in late winter to a single pup and nurse it for approximately a month. While suckling their young, females do not eat—both mother and child live off the energy stored in ample reserves of her blubber.

Do elephant seal eat penguins?

Penguins are frequently killed and eaten by predators like fur seals, leopard seals, elephant seals, and other ground and marine predators.

What is bigger an elephant seal or a walrus?

Among the most amazing of pinnipeds are the elephant seals. 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).

How big can elephant seals get?

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). Males reach lengths of nearly 20 feet (6 m) and weights of more than 8000 pounds (3700 kg).

Why do elephant seals sleep on beach?

Elephant seals tend to sleep a lot while ashore fasting during the birthing period and during the catastrophic molting period as this helps them conserve energy. In a sense, one can say, that they’re experiencing a form of hibernation as they not only sleep a lot but also exhibit a drop in their metabolic rate.

What are two reasons why elephant seals come on land?

While elephant seals spend most of their time swimming, they also gather on beaches in groups called colonies. One reason they come to land is to give birth and breed. Males arrive before females. They battle for dominance, deciding who will have large harems of females.

Are elephant seals going extinct?

Female elephant seals hunt nonstop, sleeping just 1 hour a night.