#0361 · 🦊 mammals

Southern Elephant Seal

🇳🇱 Zuidelijke Zeeolifant ·Mirounga leonina

VUvulnerable 🦊 Mammals 📍 outside Europe

8 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

what is it?

The southern elephant seal ( Mirounga leonina ) is one of the two species of elephant seals. It is the largest member of the clade Pinnipedia and the order Carnivora, as well as the largest marine mammal that is not a cetacean. It gets its name from its massive size and the large proboscis of the adult male, which is used to produce very loud roars, especially during the breeding season. A bull southern elephant seal is about...

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 3,903iNaturalist observations
threat VUvulnerable

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
3,903 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).
Listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.