Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) is one of two species of elephant seal (the other is the southern elephant seal). It is a member of the family Phocidae (true seals). Elephant seals derive their name from their great size and from the male's large proboscis, which is used in making extraordinarily loud roaring noises ...
M. leonina. Elephant seals or sea elephants are very large, oceangoing earless seals in the genus Mirounga. Both species, the northern elephant seal (M. angustirostris) and the southern elephant seal (M. leonina), were hunted to the brink of extinction for oil by the end of the 19th century, but their numbers have since recovered.
A bull southern elephant seal is about 40% heavier than a male northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris), which is nearly twice the weight of a male walrus (Odobenus rosmarus), [6] [7] or 6–7 times heavier than the largest living mostly terrestrial carnivorans, the Kodiak bear and the polar bear. [8] [9]
Super weaner. A juvenile northern elephant seal during its molt. A super weaner (also super-weaner or superweaner) is an exceptionally large elephant seal at weaning age. Super weaners may reach their large sizes by stealing milk from nursing female elephant seals or by being adopted by an additional mother elephant seal.
Elephant seals are at sea for most of the year and there are vast distances between their breeding and molting sites. The northern elephant seal is one of farthest mammalian migraters, traveling 18,000–21,000 km (11,000–13,000 mi). Otariids tend to migrate less than phocids, especially tropical species. [90]
Overhunting pushed the northern elephant seal to the brink of extinction by the late 19th century. Although they have made a comeback, the genetic variation within the population remains very low. A classic example of a population bottleneck is that of the northern elephant seal, whose population fell to about 30 in the 1890s. Although it now ...
The Piedras Blancas Light Station Association is a non-profit partner of the BLM, helping to raise funds for restoration and maintenance. The lighthouse continues to serve as an aid to navigation. A Vega VRB-25 produces a flash every 10 seconds. The light station is managed as a historic park and wildlife sanctuary.
The earless seals, phocids, or true seals are one of the three main groups of mammals within the seal lineage, Pinnipedia. All true seals are members of the family Phocidae (/ ˈfoʊsɪdiː /). They are sometimes called crawling seals to distinguish them from the fur seals and sea lions of the family Otariidae.