A rare visitor

Last month Rural Delivery contractor Gordon Wyeth spotted a rare, large elephant seal resting on the southern coast. These seals range around the Antarctic waters with their populations concentrated around the Antipodes and Campbell Islands.
They sometimes venture north in the winter but are very seldom seen north of Stewart Island.
The Southern Elephant Seal is the largest of the seal species with the male’s most outstanding feature being an inflatable snout which increases the effectiveness of the roar. They have teeth which the males use in fighting, and claws on their front flippers to help them climb over rocks, and for scratching dry skin. It pays to keep a safe distance.
They are deep sea feeders spending up to 90% of their time under water. They dive to between 200 and 300 metres with each dive lasting around twenty minutes with surfacing for only two to three minutes between dives. Their diet includes squid, cuttlefish and large fish including sharks.
Mature males are between four and five metres long and weigh up to 3,600 kg. Females grow up to three metres and weigh up to 900kg.
Males come ashore in Summer to moult and can stay in one location for several months during which time they don’t feed, they rarely go back to sea until the moulting has completed. Females moult in the Autumn and Winter.
Elephant Seals typically live between twenty and twenty three years.