Tiring work for the beach master

They are big and spend most of their lives in the ocean foraging in the deep waters for squid and certain octopus species but when they are on shore for either breeding or molting, they are simply impressive. I had the chance to walk around these massive monsters of the seal world when I was in South Georgia last week and I was blown away. Ranging anywhere from 3m - over 4.5m in length and weighing over 4 tonnes it is very humbling to stand close to them as they go about their lives and duties whilst in the breeding season.

All they typically do whilst on shore during the breeding season is sleep/yawn, like this guy is doing and fight off other potential large males that want to take its territory, as well as, their harem of females in order to breed. It is tiring work for these big fellas because they will stay ashore for a good month not feeding and physically fighting off competitive males, so they do lose quite a significant amount of weight during this time. Either way, regardless of what they are doing on shore, you got to make sure that you are constantly looking around, as these big things can change their behaviour quite quickly and you could be standing in quite a dangerous location if they see another male elephant seal on the other side of you, which in any case they will happily charge straight through to you in order to get to that competitive male. Keep your head on a swivel people.

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