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Home/Species/ Northern Elephant Seal

Mirounga angustirostris

(Gill, 1866)

Northern Elephant Seal

G5Secure Found in 4 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105540
Element CodeAMAJG06010
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassMammalia
OrderCarnivora
FamilyPhocidae
GenusMirounga
Other Common Names
Éléphant de mer (FR)
Concept Reference
Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2016-04-04
Change Date1996-11-19
Edition Date2010-02-02
Edition AuthorsHammerson, G.
Range Extent Comments
Northern elephant seals range widely in the North Pacific (regularly north to British Columbia), with males ranging farther north (as far as Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian Islands) than females. Breeding sites are distributed on islands and the mainland from the central Baja California coast north to California, including islas Guadalupe, San Benito, Cedros, Natividad (few), San Martin (few), and Coronado (few) in Mexico; and Santa Barbara, San Nicolas, San Miguel, Santa Rosa, San Clemente (few), Ano Nuevo, and Southeast Farallon islands, and Ano Nuevo Point, Point Reyes, and Piedras Balncas, in the United States; recently, pupping was observed at Shell Island, Oregon (Hodder et al. 1998). Largest breeding colony is on Guadalupe Island off Baja. Has strayed to Midway Island, Hawaii (Tomich 1986) and to a small island near Japan.
Ecology & Habitat

Description

Mature males have a large inflatable proboscis and grow to 4+ meters in length and 2,000 kg. Females are smaller (to 3 meters and 600 kg). Newborn pups are about 4 feet (1.25 meters) long and have thick black pelage.

Habitat

Northern elephant seals feed at sea (temperate and subtropical) and use beaches for breeding and molting.

In California, elephants seals occupy beaches of continental islands and the mainland during breeding (winter) and molting (spring, summer) periods; also a peak in abundance on shore occurs in October when resting females, pups of the year, and some juveniles haul out briefly. When at sea, elephant seals spend little time at the surface; commonly they are at depths of several hundred meters. Young are born on beaches of continental islands and mainland (Ano Nuevo, Point Reyes). Young stay ashore 2-3 months after weaning, leave beaches by end of April. Females generally return to natal area to breed, but some emigrate to other sites hundreds of kilometers away.

Ecology

Dominance hierarchy forms among males on breeding grounds. Highly gregarious when ashore, during breeding season and when molting. Adult females and juveniles come ashore to molt in spring, males in summer, nonpregnant females and young in fall. Preweaning mortality varies greatly among different colonies, from a few percent to sometimes 76% (see Stewart and Huber 1993 for additional survivorship data).

Reproduction

Single pup is born late December-February (rarely March), mainly in February. Pups are weaned in 4 weeks. Mating occurs a few days before the pups are weaned, then females go to sea to feed. Most adults vacate the breeding areas by the end of February. Young go to sea at 11-16 weeks, after fasting on beach for several weeks. Relatively few males (mainly 9-11 years old, or younger in newly established colonies) inseminate most of the females. Females produce their first pup usually at 3-5 years. Most females breed annually. Reproductive success increases between maternal ages of 3-7 years, then levels off; however, females breeding at a young age may experience lowered reproductive success later in life (Sydeman et al. 1991). Males live up to 15-16 years; oldest known female was 18 years old.
Terrestrial Habitats
Sand/duneBare rock/talus/scree
Other Nations (2)
CanadaN1B,N5N
ProvinceRankNative
British ColumbiaS1B,S4NYes
United StatesN4
ProvinceRankNative
OregonSNAYes
AlaskaS4Yes
CaliforniaSNRYes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
5 - Biological resource use——High (continuing)
5.4 - Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources——High (continuing)

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Roadless Areas (4)
California (3)
AreaForestAcres
Bear MountainLos Padres National Forest913
Black ButteLos Padres National Forest5,116
TequepisLos Padres National Forest9,080
Oregon (1)
AreaForestAcres
TahkenitchSiuslaw National Forest5,799
References (21)
  1. American Society of Mammalogists (ASM). 2025. Mammal Diversity Database (Version 1.13) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10595931. Online. Available: https://www.mammaldiversity.org/
  2. Baker, R. J., L. C. Bradley, R. D. Bradley, J. W. Dragoo, M. D. Engstrom, R. S. Hoffman, C. A. Jones, F. Reid, D. W. Rice, and C. Jones. 2003a. Revised checklist of North American mammals north of Mexico, 2003. Museum of Texas Tech University Occasional Papers 229:1-23.
  3. Banfield, A. W. F. 1974. The mammals of Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada. 438 pp.
  4. Bodkin, J. L., R. J. Jameson, and G. R. Van Blaricom. 1985. Pup production, abundance, and breeding distribution of northern elephant seals on San. Nicholas Island, winter, 1981. California Fish & Game 71:53-59.
  5. Bradley, R.D., L.K. Ammerman, R.J. Baker, L.C. Bradley, J.A. Cook. R.C. Dowler, C. Jones, D.J. Schmidly, F.B. Stangl Jr., R.A. Van den Bussche and B. Würsig. 2014. Revised checklist of North American mammals north of Mexico, 2014. Museum of Texas Tech University Occasional Papers 327:1-28. Available at: http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/publications/opapers/ops/OP327.pdf
  6. Condit, R., and B. J. Le Boeuf. 1984. Feeding habits and feeding grounds of the northern elephant seal. J. Mamm. 65:281-290.
  7. Cooper, C. F., and B. S. Stewart. 1983. Demography of northern elephant seals, 1911-1982. Science 219:969-971.
  8. Hodder, J., R. F. Brown, and C. Cziesla. 1998. The northern elephant seal in Oregon: a pupping range extension and onshore occurrence. Marine Mammal Science 14:873-881.
  9. Huber, H. R. 1987. Natality and weaning success in relation to age of first reproduction in northern elephant seals. Can. J. Zool. 65:1311-1316.
  10. Huber, H. R., A. C. Rovetta, L. A. Fry, and S. Johnston. 1991. Age-specific natality of northern elephant seals at the South Farallon Islands, California. J. Mammalogy 72:525-534.
  11. Ingles, L. G. 1965. Mammals of the Pacific States. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.
  12. Le Boeuf, B. J. 1985. Elephant seals. Boxwood Press, Pacific Grove, California. 48 pp.
  13. Le Boeuf, B. J., and R. M. Laws, editors. Elephant seals: population ecology, behavior, and physiology. Univ. California Press. 450 pp.
  14. Rice, D. W. 1998. Marine mammals of the world: systematics and distribution. Society for Marine Mammalogy, Special Publication Number 4. ix + 231 pp.
  15. Ridgway, S. H., and R. J. Harrison. 1981. Handbook of Marine Mammals. Volume 2. Seals. Academic Press, New York, New York. 359 pp.
  16. Riedman, M. 1990a. The Pinnipeds: Seals, Sea Lions and Walruses. University of California Press, Berkeley, California. xxiii + 439 pp.
  17. Stewart, B. S., and H. R. Huber. 1993. Mirounga angustirostris. Am. Soc. Mamm., Mammalian Species No. 449:1-10.
  18. Stewart, B. S., and R. L. DeLong. 1995. Double migrations of the northern elephant seal, <i>Mirounga angustirostris</i>. Journal of Mammalogy 76:196-205.
  19. Sydeman, W. J., et al. 1991. Age-specific weaning success of northern elephant seals in relation to previous breeding experience. Ecology 72:2204-2217.
  20. Tomich, P. Q. 1986. Mammals in Hawai'i. A synopsis and notational bibliography. Second edition. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 375 pp.
  21. Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.