1. “THE” Southern Elephant Seal Origin: trunk and sizeOrigin: trunk and size Scientific name: Mirounga leoninaScientific name: Mirounga leonina Found by Linnaeus in 1758Found by Linnaeus in 1758 Named by Lydekker in 1909Named by Lydekker in 1909

2. Physical Characteristics Size: Males up to 20 ft (5m), females up to 10 ft (3m) Weight: Males up to 4 T (8818 lb), females up to 1 T (2204 lb) Description Sexual Dimorphism

3. Life cycle Maturity: Males at 9-10 years Females at 3-5 Molting Gestation lasts 11.3 months Longevity

4. Breeding Breeding behaviour Breeding time Weaning time

5. Distribution South Georgia Kerguelen and Heard Macquarie Islands Beaches and grasslands Total Population: 700,000

6. Feeding Squid Fish Small sharks Shrimp octopus

7. Major Threats Exploited until 1964 Killer whales – Sharks Human disasters –fishing nets –Oil spill

8. Bibliography http://www.elephantseal.org/ http://www.nature.ca/notebooks/english/eleseal.htm http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jaap/elepseal.htm National Marine Sactuary http://bonita.mbnms.nos.noaa.gov/educate/newsletters/2001wintern ewsletter/sealviewing.html http://bonita.mbnms.nos.noaa.gov/educate/newsletters/2001wintern ewsletter/sealviewing.html