Southern Elephant Seals: Ultimate Guide for Photographers
Two southern elephant seals facing off at Gold Harbour, South Georgia Island.
The male southern elephant seal has a large proboscis or snout which, resembling an elephant's trunk, is what gives this unusual mammal its name.
The southern elephant seal is the largest carnivorous aquatic mammal on the planet. With a population of around 740,000, and a habitat between the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic ice pack, this prodigious swimmer can feed at extreme depths and can hold their breath underwater for up to 2 hours.
Witnessing a confrontation between two bull elephant seals, as you can see in this photo from Gold Harbour on South Georgia Island, is an exhilarating experience.
When aggressive body language and warning roars aren’t enough a fierce and violent physical clash ensues. The vanquished retreats bloody while the winner either retains or takes on the roll of beach master.
Throughout this post I'II be sharing everything I've learned about southern elephant seals and showcasing their unique appearance and mannerisms through pictures I made on a wildlife photography adventure to South Georgia Island.
Table of Contents:
Southern Elephant Seal Facts
Did you know that a group of elephant seals is called a colony while they're on land and a raft when they're in the water?
Here's some other interesting and fun facts about southern elephant seals.
An adult male seal is called a bull
An adult female seal is called a cow
An infant seal is called a pup
Southern elephant seals can swim at speeds of between 3 and 6 mph (approximately 5 to 10 kph)
While males might live for 15 years females can live to around 25 years of age
Southern Elephant Seal Habitat
The southern elephant seal's habitat ranges across the Southern Ocean, most subantarctic islands and, during the long winter months, the waters around the Antarctic pack ice.
The Antarctic waters are a rich source of food so, other than the occasional onshore resting period, the majority of time southern elephant seals spend in Antarctica is devoted to feeding.
While cows are able to feed at a variety of depths, male southern elephant seals are able to forage deeper, even as far down as the sea floor.
During the months it spends feeding at sea the southern elephant seal will spend almost 90% of its time in the water.
With the longest known migration of any mammal it can travel up to 21,000 miles (33,800 km) per year between the island where it returns to mate, molt and, in the case of the female, give birth to the waters where it feeds for extended periods of time.
Curious male southern elephant seal swimming in Cooper Bay, South Georgia Island.
Southern Elephant Seal Population
In 2005 the population of southern elephant seals was estimated at between 664,000 and 740,000. Major populations are distributed in colonies throughout the South Atlantic Ocean, south Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean.
I photographed this male, from the safety of a zodiac inflatable boat swimming in Cooper Bay off the coast of South Georgia Island.
Laying low in the craft enabled me to photograph from just above the waterline and, thereby, photograph right into this curious fellow’s eyes.
By zooming in and eliminating the horizon from the composition I was further able to concentrate attention on the elephant seal’s face.
South Atlantic Population
400,000 southern elephant seals, approximately half the world's population, including around 113,00 breeding females can be found on South Georgia Island.
I've had the privilege of observing and photographing them at Gold Harbour, Stromness Bay and the old, abandoned Norwegian whaling station of Grytviken.
Sadly, a significant decrease in population of southern elephant seals has occurred in the Falkland Islands with numbers declining from 6,000 breeding females in 1992 to only around 600 in 2002.
Once scattered around the Falklands, Sea Lion Island is the only breeding site of any significant size that remains.
Research into this dramatic decline should determine the cause of the diminishing numbers and, hopefully, provide solutions that will result in a significant increase in the population of southern elephant seals in the Falkland Islands.
Fortunately the news is better in Argentina where you’ll find the world's only continental breeding population of southern elephant seals.
Between the months of August and March around 20,000 southern elephant seals arrive on the Valdes Peninsula for the various birth, mating and molting cycles.
South Indian Ocean Population
The South Indian Ocean hosts up to 200,000 southern elephant seals. Around 75% of that population breed in the Kerguelen Islands, a French territory, with the rest found in the following locations:
France's Crozet Islands
South Africa's Marion and Prince Edward Islands
Australia's Heard Island
Pacific Ocean Population
Australian and New Zealand subantarctic islands host around 75,000 southern elephant seals, most of which return to Australia's Macquarie Island annually.
Sadly, New Zealand colonies in the Antipodes Islands and Campbell Island are small with the Campbell Island population declining from 417 in the late 1940's to only around a dozen today.
But Kiwis are lucky in that, during the winter months, southern elephant seals can be sighted in the following locations:
Auckland, New Zealand's largest city
Snares Island
Stewart Island
The beautiful Bay of Islands
The good news is that most of the larger southern elephant seal population sites are now protected either as UNESCO World Heritage Sites or through national legislation.
Southern Elephant Seal Diet
Elephant seals feed on animals such as squid, octopus, cuttlefish, lanternfish, krill and algae. Fish and squid, caught both close to the surface and at considerable depth, forms the main part of their diet.
Did you know that southern elephant seals commonly dive down to depths of between 1,300 and 2,600 feet (approximately 400 to 800 meters)?
In fact the maximum depth they're able to dive is said to be in excess of 4,921 feet (1,500 meters) which is almost double the depth of any other seal species.
The pressure at that depth, which would certainly kill a human, is 90 times greater than at surface level.
While they can stay submerged for up to 2 hours at a time, most dives are 20 to 30 minutes in duration. A short 2 to 4 minute break follows, during which time they’re able to replenish their air supply.
Surprised southern elephant seal resting on a rocky outcrop off South Georgia Island.
Southern Elephant Seal Predators
Given their massive size and those powerful front teeth the southern elephant seal has few predators. However, they're not at the absolute top of the food chain.
Orcas prey on pups and older adult seals. Likewise, leopard seals and sea lions occasional kill pups while larger sharks, particularly great white sharks and southern sleeper sharks, have been known to attack southern elephant seals.
However, such attacks are not believed to have a significant impact on their population in the wild.
This photo of a large southern elephant seal was made while it was resting on a rocky outcrop in Elsehul Bay off South Georgia Island. Elsehul Bay is a beautiful area to explore with plenty of wildlife; sheer rocky slopes and kelp forming interesting, abstract patterns on the surface of the water.
Photographing from the zodiac inflatable boat provided another great viewpoint, almost as though I’ve emerged from below the water’s surface.
Northern Elephant Seal versus Southern Elephant Seal
At around half the size and weight of their southern counterparts male northern elephant seals usually grow to around 5,070 pounds (2,300 kg).
The habitat of northern elephant seals is limited to the north pacific region from Mexico's Baja California up to the Aleutian Islands situated between Alaska and the Kamchatka Krai region in Russia's far east.
Southern Elephant Seal Behavior
While females and pups are, for the most part, relatively docile in nature the same cannot be said for bull elephant seals.
Extremely aggressive, particularly when it comes to securing or dominating territory and protecting their harem from potential challenges, large males need to be treated with the utmost respect.
I witnessed numerous fights on the shores of a beach on South Georgia Island as the reigning beach master dispatched several would be challengers.
Such battles occur frequently during the breading season when bulls rake the necks of opponents with their teeth.
Despite a shield of keratinized skin on their chests, designed to protect them when fighting, fresh blood is a common sight around the neck and upper body of fighting males. Many are forced to leave the beach bloody and exhausted after enduring significant scarring.
Males arrive in colonies prior to females and fight for the right to control harems. A dominant bull, referred to as a harem master or beach master, will establish a harem comprising of several dozen females.
A successful beach master can father up to as many as 500 pups during their lifetime. However, to do so, they need to stay on the beach and defend their territory throughout the mating season.
To sustain themselves during 3 or more months without food the beach masters are forced to survive off their own blubber storage.
Bull southern elephant seal roars near Gold Harbour on South Georgia Island.
Southern Elephant Seal Roar
Soon after the pup is born it will bark or yap and its mother will respond with a high pitched moan.
Older males use a coughing roar as a way of separating themselves from others and also as an indication of their size and relative dominance within the colony.
Usually potential confrontation between competing males is resolved through roars and aggressive body language. If not, physical confrontation will follow.
Photographed in a shallow lake about a 10 minute walk from Gold Harbour beach, this particular male was bellowing for what appeared to be no particular reason at all. But all performers need to practice and, as they say, practice makes perfect.
Are Southern Elephant Seals Dangerous?
While photographing these huge beasts from probably around 20 meters away, the question as to whether they're dangerous was very much on my mind.
With sharp bitting teeth, positioned at the front of their mouth, bulls can penetrate the thick skin of other seals and have the capacity to snap human bones with ease.
What's more, southern elephant seals are capable of moving quickly over sand and shallow dunes reaching a land speed of up to 5 mph (8 km per hour).
Given their massive bulk a tourist wandering too close to a large, male southern elephant seal bull could easily be run down and killed.
Have no doubt, while it’s a fantastic opportunity to view and photograph a bull elephant seal from a relatively close distance, you absolutely need to keep your wits about you and take advise from your tour guide regarding fundamental laws of animal behavior.
Cute southern elephant seal at Gold Harbour on South Georgia Island.
How To Approach Elephant Seals?
It's a privilege to witness elephant seals and a fantastic experience to be able to photograph them, but it's essential to do so from a safe distance.
It might be that their curiosity is such that they'll swim very close to you as you're approaching or leaving a beach in a zodiac inflatable boat.
On other occasions you might find yourself weaving your way through a group of elephant seal cows and juveniles as you make your way to and from the water’s edge.
At such times it's not uncommon to be greeted by a snort, likely meant as a warning not to linger and to be on your way without moving any closer.
As a general rule keeping a safe distance of at least 20 meters, particularly in the case of male elephant seals, is recommended.
Needless to say you should never touch a seal, even an infant, no matter how cute and placid they seem.
Seals are wild animals and it's only natural for them to defend themselves, regardless of your actual intensions, if they feel threatened.
They might look cute, but take care as a bite can result in injury and may also cause serious infection.
Common sense, situational awareness and following the guidelines set out by your tour guide is critical to ensuring your experience is both safe and enjoyable.
Southern Elephant Seal Appearance
In addition to their great size and girth, southern elephant seals have large heads and powerful front flippers which they use to steer their way through the water.
Likewise, propulsion through the water is largely achieved through the use of their rear flippers.
After molting their coat turns from black to grey and fades to a rusty gray brown color as the year progresses.
Southern Elephant Seal Adaptations
The southern elephant seal has several fascinating adaptions.
Large kidneys enable them to concentrate significant amounts of toxins into small amounts of urine, thus reducing their need for water while fasting.
In addition to their substantial size and weight the bull southern elephant seal has a prodigious inflatable proboscis or snout.
The fact that their proboscis is shaped a little like an elephant's trunk is the reason they’re referred to as an elephant seal.
While not terribly attractive the proboscis, which reaches full development in adult males, enables the bull to produce a very loud roar.
That particular benefit is put to good use, as a way of asserting dominance, during the breeding season.
Southern elephant seal beach master patrols the beach at Gold Harbour.
How Big Is A Male Southern Elephant Seal?
So, how big is a male southern elephant seal?
The southern elephant seal is the largest existing marine mammal that is not a cetacean (e.g., whale; porpoise; or dolphin, including an orca).
Bigger than a walrus, it's also the largest carnivorous aquatic mammal or pinniped on our planet.
By far the largest seal species adult males are enormous with a body length of between 14 and 19 feet (4.3 to 5.8 meters) and a body weight of between 4,850 and 8,150 pounds (2,200 and 3,700 kg).
The largest southern elephant seal recorded weighed over 8,820 pounds or 4,000 kg and measured up to 22.3 feet or 6.8 meters in length.
Such large numbers are not always easy to understand. Here's some real world comparisons to help illustrate the massive size of these beasts.
A southern elephant seal bull is around 40% heavier than its northern elephant seal counterpart.
It's double the weight of a male walrus.
It’s 6 to 7 times heavier than a polar bear.
Is it any wonder the huddle of king penguins in the above photo began to scatter when a large southern elephant seal bull suddenly began charging along the beach?
After noticing the arrival of another male, who had immediately begun making advances to an unattended cow by the water’s edge, the challenge was met with vigorous intent.
Bull Elephant Seal
Adult males are referred to as bull elephant seals and they strive for dominance, through deep throaty vocalisations and violent battles along the beach front.
The prize is significant. The bull who controls the beach will have his genes passed onto the next generation.
But as time passes and battle after battle is waged the beach master must, eventually, weaken until the day a challenger finally deposes him.
Photographing two large bull elephant seals facing off is exciting. The battle itself, often lasting for several very intense minutes, can do significant damage, inflicting wounds to each party.
Female Southern Elephant Seal
Female southern elephant seals are comparatively smaller than their male counterparts. At around 6.5 to 9.85 feet (2 to 3 meters) in length they often weigh between 880 and 1,985 pounds (400 and 900 kg).
Their large and round black eyes are actually quite attractive and make females very photogenic.
However, like any wild animal, it's not advisable to stare into those eyes. Your intentions might be misread and seen as aggressive, resulting in a warning roar or even a charge.
Adorable baby southern elephant seal at Gold Harbour, South Georgia Island.
Baby Southern Elephant Seals
I photographed this adorable baby southern elephant seal off Gold Harbour on South Georgia Island. Actually a pup is the correct term to describe a baby southern elephant seal.
After wandering along the beach I decided to head inland and continued to journey over a wide plain and up a rise. Eventually I reached this inlet which seemed to serve as a kind of nursery for young elephant seals.
It was the middle of the day and the bright light was harsh and less than ideal for making photos.
Nonetheless, the enormous amount of photo opportunities along the way really fired the spirit and kept my camera’s shutter working feverishly.
At birth pups weigh around 88 pounds (40 kg) and enter the world at around 4.3 feet or 1.3 meters in length. By the time they're weaned pups weigh around 260 pounds or about 120 kg.
Still cute, but more than a handful by that stage.
Born with black fur, which helps protect them from the cold air, southern elephant seal pups begin molting from the time they're weaned.
After weaning pups stay together in rookeries and spend the next 8 weeks learning to swim in nearby estuaries and ponds like the one I photographed this particular pup splashing around in.
Not eating again until they venture out to sea to feed for themselves, pups loose around a third of their weight during this time.
If orcas or sea lions are waiting offshore that first fishing expedition can be perilous for the young southern elephant seal.
You might be surprised to learn that an elephant seal pup is actually really cute. They have big doe eyes which makes them very photogenic.
However, all things change. While the female southern elephant seal remains relatively attractive over the years, at least to my eyes, the same is not the case for the adult male.
After reaching adulthood male elephant seals grow a large and not terribly attractive proboscis which resembles an elephant’s trunk. And that, of course, is where elephant seals get their name.
Young male southern elephant seal in glacial lake on South Georgia Island.
Life Cycle of the Southern Elephant Seal
Despite reaching sexual maturity between the age of 3 and 6, most males don't get to breed until they're around 10 years of age.
This photo shows a young, male southern elephant seal lazing around in a glacial lake in front of the huge Bertrab Glacier near Gold Harbour on South Georgia Island.
The light was quite gentle when I made this photo which brought out the beautiful colors of the sky and glacier, reflecting onto the surface of the water, and the various gradations of tone and texture on the elephant seal’s hide.
Arriving at breeding sites in August the larger males immediately begin competing with each other for dominance with the intention of establishing a harem of breeding females.
As only the largest 2 or 3 males in a colony get to breed in a given year, many males never get the opportunity to breed during their lifetime.
Females reach sexual maturity between 2 and 4 years of age and have the potential of giving birth annually for perhaps 12 years.
Cows give birth to a single pup soon after arriving at colonies during the months of September and October. After nursing the pup for around 23 days the female will mate and then head out to sea to feed, leaving the pup to largely fend for itself.
After around 70 days at sea females come ashore to molt.
During the summer months young elephant seals return to shore on subantarctic islands like South Georgia to molt in the tussock grasses above beaches. They will often stay in the same location for several months, rarely going back into the sea to feed.
Adult female southern elephant seals molt a little later in summer, while adult males wait until the autumn or winter months before they shed their coats.
Southern Elephant Seal Conservation
As a result of a steep decline in Antarctic fur seal numbers during the 1800's southern elephant seals were hunted for oil. In turn their numbers dropped and, as a consequence, all types of sealing became increasingly unviable from 1900 onwards.
Nonetheless, approximately 260,000 elephant seals were harvested between 1910 and 1965.
The good news is that, since the eventual cessation of whaling related activities, southern elephant seal numbers have increased from the days when they were harvested for oil.
Currently the conservation status of the southern elephant seal is listed as Least Concern.
How To Photograph Elephant Seals
Southern elephant seals are huge, aggressive beasts. Here’s some tips to help you photography them in the wild.
Never directly approach a southern elephant seal.
Keep your distance, and don’t get between an elephant seal and the safety of the water.
Photograph with a telephoto zoom lens, from a safe distance.
Arrive at a great composition and, without any form of provocation on your behalf, wait for the action to unfold.
Photograph dynamic action with a shutter speed of at least 1/1000 second. The faster the shutter speed the more likely you’ll be to produce a razor sharp image.
Due to their significant size, not to mention the fact that you’ll likely be using a telephoto focal length, a relatively large depth of field might be required to ensure a sufficient amount of the elephant seals face and body is rendered sharp.
If it’s not particularly bright you’ll need a high ISO to achieve the desired combination of a really fast shutter speed and a physically narrow aperture.
If color is important photograph with the light behind you to reveal what color there is in the southern elephant seal and the surrounding landscape.
Gentle side light is great for revealing shape and texture along their thick, wrinkled and often badly scared hide.
Where To Photograph Southern Elephant Seals?
Offering large populations and relatively easy beach access for wildlife lovers and photographers, South Georgia Island must surely be the best place to photograph southern elephant seals.
After spending a few days on board a cruise ship it’s a great experience to land on shore, via a zodiac inflatable boat, and behold the massive amount of wildlife South Georgia has to offer.
A mecca for wildlife photography South Georgia Island has significant populations of Weddell seals, southern elephant seals and a range of birdlife, including spectacular king penguins.
Post Processing Workflow: Southern Elephant Seals
Wildlife photography, particularly when it involves fast moving action like two bull southern elephant seals charging at each other, results in a lower rate of keepers than you'd expect to achieve when photographing portraits, landscape or architecture.
However, thanks to a digital camera, with a built in motor drive, you're likely making far more pictures than you otherwise would.
But that's also why the act of processing and culling will be a far more tedious and exhausting process than would otherwise be the case.
To arrive at the best workflow for post processing large amounts of wildlife images consider the following approach.
Mark delete all images that you deem are not worth the effort to process. This would include poor exposures, out of focus images and plain boring photos.
Apply basic processing to all the images that remain. The best way to do this is via a metadata editor like Adobe Lightroom.
Simply process the first in a series of images and then, via the Sync Settings command, apply those changes to the rest of the images in that series.
Next move onto the next series and continue this process.
Go through all of the images that have received basic post processing and separate the best from the rest.
You can do this by rating the images in Lightroom via the Star or Pick commands.
Create a separate collection for all your best photos and, for the most part, forget about the rest.
A collection might contain the best photos from a particular day or feature your best southern elephant seal photos from your entire trip.
You can build collections based upon each of the places you visited or each of the various types of wildlife (e.g., avian, mammals) you’ve photographed.
Now that you’re spending time looking at your very best photos (based around a particular day, location or subject) you’re now able to look more carefully to determine which ones are worthy of extra post processing (e.g., black and white).
Likewise, you’re also in a good position to determine which images should be elevated to a higher rating (e.g., 4 stars).
I’ve written a really helpful post titled How To Rate Photos in Lightroom which I’m sure you’ll find useful in creating a more sensible and efficient photography workflow.
It's a good thing that, unlike a lot of photographers, I feel empowered by deleting photos.
I'd much rather have a relatively small selection of well made and well organized photos than a substantially larger group that just sit on a series of hard drives.
Half the fun we gain from photography is sharing our images and you’ll be in a far better position to do so once you’re separated the wheat from the chaff.
By separating what works from what doesn’t you’ll be able to reinforce, in your own mind, what it is you do well.
What started as an interesting idea or approach will become habitual and, before you know it, you’ll be making better photos, more often.
After a trip photographing wildlife it’s only natural to feel a little overwhelmed by the task of working through what, for most folks, would be thousands of pictures.
But what good is having thousands of images on your computer if you don’t get to look at them and, ideally, share them with the world.
That’s why a well thought out workflow is essential to organizing and managing your photos so that you can quickly and easily identify the best ones and still find those pictures years later.
But in addition to the satisfaction of having your best digital files processed and organized, these efforts increase our photographic expertise and allow us to develop an ever improved workflow.
And that bodes well for keeping up with what I hope will be many, many more images into the future.
Conclusion: Southern Elephant Seals - Respect And Affection
Being able to witness southern elephant seal behavior in the wild is a truly wonderful experience. Since doing so I’ve undertaken a lot of research, much of it distilled in this article, which I’ve been happy to share with you.
Having a basic understanding of animal behavior and the environmental challenges faced by the species we photograph can only help us make more interesting, more authoritative and more emotively charged photos.
Of course it’s not just the information that matters, but how you respond to it and how it’s manifest in the photos you create.
To that end I strongly recommend working to discover and nurture your own, unique creative nature.
If you’re an enthusiastic wildlife photographer and you get the chance to visit South Georgia Island I’d strongly recommend you do all you can to make the journey and to make the most of the experience.
In addition to southern elephant seals you’ll also be able to photograph a wide range of wildlife, including huge colonies of birdlife.
While King Penguins remain my favorite subject matter on South Georgia Island, I’ve developed a guarded and respectful affection for southern elephant seals.
The cubs are totally gorgeous, the females photogenic and the bull males powerful and totally deserving of respect.
