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Young male Southern Elephant Seals play-fighting and gurgling

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Southern Elephant Seals (Mirounga leonina) are massive – mature males grow to 5.8 metres (19 feet) long and weigh up to 4,000 kilograms (8,800 pounds), and are typically five to six times heavier than females. Elephant Seals are true seals, and are unable to walk with their flippers and have no external ear visible. Mature bull Elephant Seals arrive on the beaches of South Georgia island in August, and pregnant females follow in September or October to give birth to a single pup. The “beachmaster” males round up as many females as they can in harems, and aggressively defend them against “bachelor” males. Pups are weaned in about a month, and are left behind as their mothers and dominant bulls return to sea. Immature males and some females remain behind, often to moult. Moulting Elephant Seals are tactile, often huddling together in groups on the beach. During the moult, subadult male Elephant Seals often play-fight, testing each other’s strength to establish a dominance hierarchy. These two immature males were play-fighting on the beach at Gold Harbour, South Georgia, in the midst of King Penguins, Antarctic Fur Seals and a few Southern Giant Petrels. Their gurgling calls can be heard over the “wah-wah” calls of the King penguins. One of the young males is injured, with deep puncture wounds on his back and just above his tail flippers.

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