Southern elephant seal

남방코끼리물범

The largest seal on Earth; males inflate their trunk-like noses to roar at rivals. A big male weighs several tonnes, and these seals can dive deeper than 1,000 m and stay under for over an hour.

See it on the 3D globe →

At a glance

Class: Mammals
Lives in: South Georgia
Diet: Meat eater (carnivore)
Weight: about 2,000 kg
Length: about 4 m
Lifespan: up to about 21 years
Conservation status: Vulnerable (IUCN VU)
Habitat: coasts, open ocean, polar regions

Quick answers

Where does the Southern elephant seal live?

It lives in coasts, open ocean, polar regions of the Southern Ocean. On the globe you can find it near South Georgia.

How big is the Southern elephant seal?

It grows to about 4 m and 2,000 kg.

What does the Southern elephant seal eat?

Its diet: meat eater (carnivore).

How long does the Southern elephant seal live?

It can live up to about 21 years.

Is the Southern elephant seal endangered?

It is listed as Vulnerable (IUCN VU).

The southern elephant seal is the largest seal on Earth. It is the biggest member of the group called pinnipeds and the largest meat-eating mammal, and it is the biggest marine mammal that is not a whale or dolphin. It gets its name from its huge size and from the big trunk-like nose of adult males.

Males use that nose to make very loud roars, especially in the breeding season. It lives in the Southern Hemisphere, and the globe places it on South Georgia, an island where huge colonies gather on the beaches. On beaches in the breeding season, hundreds of seals can pile up together, with noisy bulls guarding their groups.

How big is big?

Adult females weigh roughly 350 to 900 kg and measure about 2.6 to 3 metres. Adult bulls can weigh 3,000 to 3,700 kg and grow 4.6 to 5.8 metres long, so a male is often four to five times heavier than a female, one of the biggest size gaps of any mammal.

Seals on South Georgia are on average about 30 percent heavier than those from Macquarie Island.

Fights and the deep

Every year males fight fiercely for control of a harem of females. Bulls bend their backs to look taller when they rear up against rivals.

Elephant seals are also deep divers. They can dive deeper than 1,000 metres and stay down for over an hour. Their natural enemies are killer whales and great white sharks, and the IUCN lists the species as vulnerable.

Fun facts

A male's inflatable, trunk-like nose makes its roars louder when it fights rivals.
A big male can weigh as much as three tonnes or more.
Males can be four to five times heavier than females.
The enlarged nose helps males roar louder.
Some dives go deeper than 1,000 metres.