Northern Elephant Seal project
Northern Elephant Seal project
Description
These seals are named Elephant seals because adult males have large noses that look like an elephant's trunk. Adult males could grow to over 13 feet in length and weigh up to 4,500 pounds. The females, however, are much smaller than the males. They could grow over 10 feet in length and 1,500 pounds. The northern elephant seal is the second largest seal in the world, after the southern elephant seal. It travels on land by flopping on its belly. The elephant seal has a broad, round face with very big eyes. Offspring are born with a black coat which is shed, in about 28 days, revealing a shiny, silver-gray coat. Within a year, the color of the coat will change into a silvery brown.
Habitat
Northern elephant seals are found in the North Pacific. During the breeding season, they live on beaches on offshore islands and a few remote spots on the mainland. The rest of the year elephant seals live off shore, they commonly descend to 5,000 feet or lower below the ocean's surface.
Behavior …show more content…
They hardly spend more than four minutes at the surface of the water between dives. It is thought that they eat deep-water marine animals, for example, ratfish, swell sharks, spiny dogfish, eels, rockfish, and squid. Elephant seals shed each year between April and August, shedding not only their hair but the upper layer of their skin as well. This is identified as catastrophic molt. They return to the beaches for a few weeks while they molt. Females molt in the spring, while the young molt in the early summer, and adult males molt in the late
Northern Elephant Seal project
Description
These seals are named Elephant seals because adult males have large noses that look like an elephant's trunk. Adult males could grow to over 13 feet in length and weigh up to 4,500 pounds. The females, however, are much smaller than the males. They could grow over 10 feet in length and 1,500 pounds. The northern elephant seal is the second largest seal in the world, after the southern elephant seal. It travels on land by flopping on its belly. The elephant seal has a broad, round face with very big eyes. Offspring are born with a black coat which is shed, in about 28 days, revealing a shiny, silver-gray coat. Within a year, the color of the coat will change into a silvery brown.
Habitat
Northern elephant seals are found in the North Pacific. During the breeding season, they live on beaches on offshore islands and a few remote spots on the mainland. The rest of the year elephant seals live off shore, they commonly descend to 5,000 feet or lower below the ocean's surface.
Behavior …show more content…
They hardly spend more than four minutes at the surface of the water between dives. It is thought that they eat deep-water marine animals, for example, ratfish, swell sharks, spiny dogfish, eels, rockfish, and squid. Elephant seals shed each year between April and August, shedding not only their hair but the upper layer of their skin as well. This is identified as catastrophic molt. They return to the beaches for a few weeks while they molt. Females molt in the spring, while the young molt in the early summer, and adult males molt in the late