Chubby Sausage - Northern Elephant Seal, California
by KJ Swan
Title
Chubby Sausage - Northern Elephant Seal, California
Artist
KJ Swan
Medium
Photograph
Description
After an 11-month pregnancy, a female gave birth to a single pup. Over the next month, the little chubby beach-sausage quadrupled his birth-weight. He used that fat to give him time to learn to swim. Out to sea, he developed hunting skills while avoiding predators. Eight months later, he returned to the beach where his story began.
After whales became scarce, elephant seals were hunted to the brink of extinction. People wanted lamp oil and Northern elephant seals were easy prey. By 1910, it was estimated that there were fewer than 100 elephant seals, all found on Guadalupe Island off Baja California, Mexico. Today, the northern elephant seal population has rebounded to approximately the size it was before hunting. It’s estimated that there are 150,000 individuals, with 124,000 in California waters and beaches.
Uploaded
August 12th, 2023
Embed
Share
Similar Images
Comments (1)
Recently Viewed
