The Insane Biology of: The Elephant Seal

Thank you to Trade for sponsoring. Visit https://drinktrade.com/realscience to enjoy 30% off your first month of coffee. Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/realscience-the-insane-biology-of-the-elephant-seal (https://www.patreon.com/realscience) Instagram: (https://www.instagram.com/stephaniesammann) Images Courtesy of Getty Images Thanks to our Patreon Supporters: Sasank Grandhi Eric Ypsilantis Robert Thompson Keith Skipper Credits: Writer/Narrator: Stephanie Sammann Writer: Lorraine Boissoneault Editor: Dylan Hennessy (https://www.behance.net/dylanhennessy1) Illustrator/Animator: Kirtan Patel (https://kpatart.com/illustrations) Animator: Mike Ridolfi (https://www.moboxgraphics.com/) Sound: Graham Haerther (https://haerther.net) Thumbnail: Simon Buckmaster (https://twitter.com/forgottentowel) Producer: Brian McManus (watchnebula.com/realengineering) REFERENCES [1] https://nre.tas.gov.au/wildlife-management/fauna-of-tasmania/mammals/seals/southern-elephant-seal [2] https://www.marinebio.org/species/southern-elephant-seals/mirounga-leonina/# [3] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359307053_The_Elephant_Seal_Linking_Phenotypic_Variation_with_Behavior_and_Fitness_in_a_Sexually_Dimorphic_Phocid [4] https://www.csiro.au/en/news/all/articles/2023/april/deepest-diving-animals [5] https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/z92-055 [6] https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/226/13/jeb245157/323164/Diving-behaviour-of-southern-elephant-seals-new [6.5] https://www.vin.com/apputil/content/defaultadv1.aspx?pId=11354&meta=Generic&id=5377989 [7] https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zdqx2v4#z8nntrd [8] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/ece3.7147 [9] https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/abs/10.1139/z06-193 [10] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0003347206004052 [11]https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Filippo-Galimberti/publication/225963150_The_cost_of_success_Reproductive_effort_in_male_southern_elephant_seals_Mirounga_leonina/links/00b7d51f7c30a8e00a000000/The-cost-of-success-Reproductive-effort-in-male-southern-elephant-seals-Mirounga-leonina.pdf [12]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359307053_The_Elephant_Seal_Linking_Phenotypic_Variation_with_Behavior_and_Fitness_in_a_Sexually_Dimorphic_Phocid [13] https://www.marinebio.org/species/southern-elephant-seals/mirounga-leonina/# [14] https://www.publish.csiro.au/ZO/ZO9680629 [15] https://oceanbites.org/from-the-poles-to-the-tropics-first-molting-of-a-southern-elephant-seal-on-mauritius-island/ [16] https://hal.science/hal-02889417/document [17] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-92635-9.pdf [18] https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-023-05720-2.pdf