Tuesday, March 12, 2013

The Biggest Seals on Earth Hanging with King Penguins

Northern Elephant Seals. Adult female, adult male and pup
There are two kinds of elephant seals.  Northern Elephant Seals and Southern Elephant Seals. The biggest is the Southern Elephant Seal.

Imagine walking along the shoreline in Antarctica and meeting face to face with a seal that is 20-feet long(6m) and  8000 pounds  (4,000kg) or more!

Northern Elephant Seals are found along the west coast of the Pacific Ocean and range from the Aleutian Islands to the islands near Baja California.An adult male can measure 16-feet long (5m), and weigh up to 5000 pounds (2 267kg)  That is still big.

The yellow shows where elephant seals live
Did you know that there was a time when all elephant seals were hunted to near-extinction?  That means that hunters killed so many of these big seals--for oil--that barely any elephant seals were left on the planet.  

Here's a video about Southern Elephant Seals hanging around King Penguins.


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