““THE” Southern Elephant THE” Southern Elephant SealSeal

•Origin: trunk and sizeOrigin: trunk and size

•Scientific name: Scientific name: Mirounga leoninaMirounga leonina

•Found by Linnaeus in 1758Found by Linnaeus in 1758

•Named by Lydekker in 1909Named by Lydekker in 1909

Physical CharacteristicsPhysical Characteristics

• Size: Males up to 20 ft (5m), females up to 10 ft (3m)

• Weight: Males up to 4 T (8818 lb), females up to 1 T (2204 lb)

• Description

• Sexual Dimorphism

Life cycleLife cycle

• Maturity: Males at 9-10 years

Females at 3-5

• Molting

• Gestation lasts 11.3 months

• Longevity

BreedingBreeding

• Breeding behaviour

• Breeding time

• Weaning time

DistributionDistribution

• South Georgia

• Kerguelen and Heard

• Macquarie Islands

• Beaches and grasslands

• Total Population: 700,000

FeedingFeeding

• Squid

• Fish

• Small sharks

• Shrimp

• octopus

Major ThreatsMajor Threats

• Exploited until 1964

• Killer whales – Sharks

• Human disasters– fishing nets – Oil spill

Bibliography Bibliography

• http://www.elephantseal.org/• http://www.nature.ca/notebooks/english/eleseal.htm• http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jaap/elepseal.htm• National Marine Sactuary

http://bonita.mbnms.nos.noaa.gov/educate/newsletters/2001winternewsletter/sealviewing.html