The elephant seal breeding season started when all the male elephant seals came back to the beaches to claim their territories in August. There were a lot of fights to own these beaches! The females came to give birth later in August.
Me and my seal peeps, er, pups
Here I am channelling my inner elephant seal whisperer. The penguins are in awe.
They're really not afraid of people, as you can see.
Weighing in
Now occasionally I help the sealers of Marion Island to weigh the elephant seal pups or weaners; the heaviest one this time around was 170kg.
Heavy!
They are weighed after their moms leave them to feed in the ocean and come back for molting season.
Nature has her way
Not every baby makes it, unfortunately.
Those dead babies may have died of natural causes but most probably the "beach master", as we call him, squashed them as he was moving around the harem - mostly that is what happens.
On rare occasions seabirds will kill the baby seals if they are left unattended since they're defenceless. Not for the squeamish: typically they will start with the eyes and eventually eat the whole thing.
The seabirds around these dead babies are Northern and Southern Giant Petrels, Brown Skuas and Lesser sheath bill.
The Beach Master
Meet the Beach Master. This hefty fellow is an elephant seal male. They are estimated to weigh around 3000kg. Before you ask, no, we didn't weigh this one.
Thanks as always for stopping in!
All images taken by Maanda Raselabe and me.
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