Southern Elephant Seal

The southern elephant seal is the largest species of seal in the world, found on subantarctic islands and the coasts of the Southern Ocean, with males dramatically larger than females and equipped with a large inflatable proboscis used to amplify roaring calls during the breeding season. Males compete fiercely for control of large harems of females on crowded breeding beaches, and the species is an extraordinarily deep and long diver, regularly descending hundreds to over a thousand metres and remaining submerged for well over an hour while hunting squid and fish. After being heavily depleted by sealing in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, southern elephant seal populations recovered substantially over the twentieth century, and the species is classified as being of least concern.