Every year southern elephant seals
migrate to the Antarctic beaches where they were born to reproduce and to mold
after the breeding season. As the Antarctic summer is really short, all is
about the perfect timing. Males arrive first in the early October to fight for
territories (a stretch of beach). After the territories are established, females
arrive and within 4-5 days pups that were conceived in the previous season are
born. Quickly after the birth it is mating time. Mothers will nurse the pups for another three to
five weeks after their birth. Parents and non-breading seals stay on land to
mold for another 3-4 weeks. During that time seals do not go to the sea, so
they do not eat. This is the time when they like to keep together to be warm.
After the molding in the mid-December elephant seals return to the sea to feed
and build the resources in their bodies for the next breeding season. Bellow are two fragments about elephant seals from my first
Antarctic Expedition diaries:
October 10, 2006
“(…) After long ten kilometers walk, including
crossing the Ecology Glacier, we are near the Blue Dyke. For the first time
this year I see a big harem of southern elephant seals. One monstrous male is controlling
a group of 14 females with 12 pups. Around the group three smaller males are
waiting for their chance. With Mariusz, we spend over half an hour observing
the harem and listening to funny noises from the newly born pups. They sound
like a mixture of barking, quacking and hiccups. The pups are completely black,
about one meter long and have friendly “smiles”. They keep close to their
mothers drinking very nutrient and fat rich milk (over 50% of fat!). I admire
the size of the alpha male, which is almost 5 meters long and weighs about 3.5
tones. Alerted with our presence the ‘beachmaster’ rises several meters above
the ground. We are aware that he will try to chase us away tramping newborns
and their mothers, we quickly move away. It is getting late, and it is time
to go back to our field hut (a trailer) in the Paradise Cove and prepare late
supper. Tonight the executive chef (Mariusz) recommends Korean instant soups
with noodles. After the meal we finish the leftover vodka from the last stay
and make some hot wine. Around midnight, after long scientific discussions we fall
asleep."
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| Inside the field hut ("Predom" trailer), evening of October 10, 2006 (photo by Mariusz Potocki) | | | | | | | | | |
October 11, 2006
"I wake up before 8. I look through foggy plastic
windows of our trailer. It is cloudy; the sky is over casted with grey stratocumulus.
Around 9 we make breakfast – reheated chicken in parsley sauce from 1 liter
jar. It reminds us a pre-cooked meal from a grandmother. We got the food before
we left our station from our cook Michal. After the meal we pack our backpacks
and go. On the way to the Patelnia we stop in the Blue Dyke to see the elephant
seals one more time. Since yesterday 2 more females have arrived and 3 more
pups were born. One of the pups must have been born just before we came. Snow
around the mother and pup is still yellow-green from fetal fluids. Antarctic sheathbills
and kelp gulls are fighting for the afterbirth. Here in Antarctica
nothing can be wasted. White birds look like macabre nurses covered in yellow,
green and bloody stains.
After taking some pictures we start to climb on
the Sugar Mound and go to the Patelnia. On flat beaches two big harems have formed.
When we get to the first one, some giant petrels are flying away from a fresh
carcass of an elephant seal pup which was smashed by fighting males of elephant
seals. In the group are 97 females with 42 pups; in the middle there is a huge
alpha male looking like a lonely island. It is several times larger than
females. Elephant seals adapted to breed during very short Antarctic “summer”.
The uterus has two chambers, so the fertilization is possible shortly after the
delivery. After the fertilization the fetus develops for several days and then
the development is stopped so that the pup is born next October. Therefore,
large males are only interested in females, and during their fights a lot of
pups are killed. Success of the dominant male depends on his success in heavy
weight fights. The battle is not to win a particular female or a group of
females. The battle is to win the best and the most attractive stretch of beach,
which is easily accessible and attracts the largest number of females. Winning
the best spot is restricted to real giants, typically over 10 years old and
over 3.5 tones. However, the smaller and younger males also have their chance.
They wait on the margins of large harems for a moment when the alpha male is fighting
or is busy with a female. This is their chance. The genetic studies have shown
that about 30% of pups are from those “sneakers”.
We go to count the seals in the second harem on
the Patelnia, which is located on a shore bar between a lagoon and Bransfield Strait. Here, the alpha male is
controlling 62 females with 19 pups. Around the harem on ice of the frozen
lagoon 3 males are waiting for their moment. They are covered with blood and
deep cuts from tusks of the dominant male. The alpha male rises up on his front
flippers making loud low rearing marking his territory. I realize that one of the
females is in labor already. I can see contractions and a head of a pup
sticking out. Around the female sheathbills are already waiting for their
chance, one of them is eating the umbilical cord which is still attached to
one-day-old pup. Unfortunately, it is getting late and we can not wait for the birth.
It is time to go back to the station to use low tides and be back home before
it gets dark."
Mariusz fighting with strong wind (15-25 m/s) on the way to the Paradise Cove, October 10, 2006
Our field hut in the Paradise Cove, the trailer is slightly left and up from the elephant seal. Afternoon of October 10, 2006
The famous field hut (or rather a trailer) in the Paradise Cove, October 10, 2006
Elephant seal harem and fighting males, in King George Bay, King George Island
The 'beachmaster' - it is better to move away!
"Sex on the beach": note the size difference between male and female!
The alpha male from the Patelnia
Rest after a fight
One day old pup
One day old pup
Sleep and eat, the best childhood strategy!
Sleep and eat, the best childhood strategy!
"Happy elephant seal baby"
"Happy elephant seal baby"
Sleep and eat, the best childhood strategy!
A new "beachmaster"
On a hot sunny day the best way to cool off is to put some cold gravel on back!
First swimming classes
A philosopher at bath
During the mold time elephant seals gather together to keep warm and sleep.
Molding time: when it is to crowded small fight can happened.
Happy seal to make the happy end of this post!
