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. The young male Elephant Seal moved along the beach at Gold Harbour towards a huddle of other Elephant seals, most of whom were moulting, with large flakes of skin peeling off. Some of the seals in the huddle objected when he tried to wriggle in amongst them – one male made his extraordinary gurgling call. Several of the seals had flipped moist sand over their bodies, trying to keep cool. At three degrees Celsius it was almost a heat wave on South Georgia! The young male was finally accepted, and rested with his head on another seal.