Molly McCormley at UC Santa Cruz Long Marine Lab, CA--This week in our Day in the Life blog…adult females!  Elephant seals in general are pretty incredible! The females are no exception!  E Seal mamas are independent women that really do it all! Females fast for over a month, all while suckling and taking care of a pup.  That's dedication!   It's hard work being a mom, and when weighing in at nearly a 1 ton, they are big mammas!!

Female E Seals arrive during breeding season very pregnant, and about to give birth.  They mated last breeding season and delayed their pregnancy for 3 months in order to be able to give birth at the same time the following year.  After a few days of rest following their 8 months out at sea, females give birth and begin raising their pup! That's not much of a break at all, especially considering E Seals have a pup every year.  

A female E seal who just came back from her ocean journey.  You can tell because of the yellowish coloration around her eyes.  She will give birth in a few days while at her stay at Año Nuevo State Reserve.  Photo: Molly McCormley

While on land, their pups are their life!  Each mother and pup bond together during the first few days of being with each other.  They know what each other smell like, look like, and sound like! This is helpful when mother and pup get separated in the busy harems and have to find their way to each other again.  Without a mother to protect them, harems are a very dangerous place.  Pups can get run over by males, bitten by other females, and they can be pecked by….seagulls, the horror!  Many times if a seagull, another female, or male comes too close to their pup, females are not afraid to let their anger be known!  They will yell and often bite, which usually discourages the smart ones from coming too close.

A Female trying to discourage a seagull from coming any closer at Año Nuevo State Reserve. Photo: Molly McCormley

Female E Seals fighting at Año Nuevo State Reserve.  Most fights tend to be space issues and are resolved fairly quicky.  Photo: Molly McCormley

Females also have to protect themselves from unwanted visitors. As far as males go: females have their own lines of defense for when alpha is sleeping or busy fighting. When approached by males, females will often hit the males with their flippers, bite, and vocalize loudly to alert the dominant males of the looming trespasser.

A Female nursing her pup at Año Nuevo State Reserve.  In just a few short weeks she will leave him to go back to her feeding grounds in the ocean.  She is going to be very hungry considering she is fasting this whole time! Photo: Molly McCormley

E seal females are remarkable animals and they have LOTS of work to do in just a short few WEEKS that they are on land!  They are the ULTIMATE E mother!

Stay tuned for more Day in the Life blogs! If you’d like to learn more check out the E Seal species page and the Elephant Seal Homcoming Days page!