Photo of Elephant Seals Fighting

Photo of Elephant Seals Fighting, Natural History Photography Blog

Photo of Elephant Seals Fighting

View This Blog Post in Google Earth (How Cool Is That?)

View this blog entry in Google Earth
Latitude: 35° 39' 59.77" N, Longitude: 121° 16' 33.16" W, Coord: 35.666603°, -121.27588°
Filed under: California, Elephant Seal, Wildlife on 2/19/2008

Here we see two northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) “bulls” fighting on a central California beach. Male elephant seals haul out of the ocean and establish territories on the beach in December, in advance of females who arrive a few weeks later and among whom they form large harems. Throughout the birthing and mating season, which extends through March, males will fight among themselves to maintain or expand their territory and ward off other males who might mate with the females in their harem. Younger bachelor males without established territories will often try to “pick off” a female and mate with her if possible before the bull overseeing the harem notices. Fights like these are common, especially later in the season when most of the mating is done.

Male elephant seals (bulls) rear up on their foreflippers and fight for territory and harems of females. Bull elephant seals will haul out and fight from December through March, nearly fasting the entire time as they maintain their territory and harem. They bite and tear at each other on the neck and shoulders, drawing blood and creating scars on the tough hides. Piedras Blancas, San Simeon, California, USA.
Image: 20377
Species: Mirounga angustirostris
Location: Piedras Blancas, San Simeon, California, USA

Click To View This Location in Google Earth. You must have Google Earth installed for this feature to work correctly.

View this Image in Google Earth!

Subscribe to this feed - Subscribe via Feedburner - Stumble it! - Digg this! - Add to Del.icio.us - Share on Facebook

»

Leave a comment

Updated: June 18, 2013