Birthing
Each year, prior to the arrival of the female elephant seals, both pregnant and non-pregnant (the vast majority being pregnant ), the males are busy establishing the hierarchy of the the beach from the beginning of December. The hierarchy is put in place through a series of fights for dominance. When the 'dust ' settles, each dominant alpha male or beach master has determined the boundaries of
' his ' beach allowing several lesser males ' to protect ' his area from other eager males by patrolling the shallow waters and guarding his boundaries on land.
In late December, January, and early February of each year, pregnant female elephant seals that got impregnated about a year earlier return to ' their ' beaches to give birth on shore.
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Joining these pregnant females are juvenile female elephant seals as well as some adult females that didn't get pregnant.
The female elephant seal will give birth to a single rather skinny-looking black pup generally within a handful of days of coming ashore. The actual birth often takes places in a matter of a few short minutes, with the pup being expelled either back flippers first or head first followed by the afterbirth.
Even with the umbilical cord still attached to the pup, seagulls making raucous calls will flock around to pull apart and eat the afterbirth, and in so doing, keep the beach clean.
As for the umbilical cord, it will soon shrivel up of its own accord and fall off
Right after birth, the mother will nudge and cry out to her newborn pup until it responds by moving and crying back.
Although the newborn pup comes out ready for action, it can see, hear, smell, move, ' talk ', and flip sand, and is no doubt hungry, both the mother and the pup will take a nap after establishing their familial bonds by sniffing one another to imprint each other's scent.
The newborn pups have a fuzzy black covering, which is quickly rubbed off revealing the elephant seal's first coat of silky dark hair, which is usually black, or, sometimes, a very dark brown. This first coat starts shedding almost right away but will not change color until after the pup is weaned.
The females are fiercely protective of their space and will challenge any intruder, be it male, female, or other pups, by snapping, nipping, ' barking ', or rising up and making physically intimidating forward lunges.
The hungry pups are very insistent feeders and will badger the mother by crying out, nudging, or even climbing up on her to make her roll over and expose her teats, the pipeline to their nutrition.
The never-satisfied pups will suckle their mother's fat-rich milk ( which has about 55% fat after the initial few days of nursing ) several times a day gaining about ten pounds each day for a total of twenty-five to twenty-eight days.
Since the mother can't leave her pup to go out and forage during this time, she loses about one third of the weight she came ashore with, with about half going to her pup and the remaining half used to sustain herself.
The pups may cry out for a variety of reasons but mainly to let the mother know that they're hungry or that an intruder is approaching.
Should a pup become separated from its mother, a frenzied search is immediately started by both the mother and the pup. They both emit shrill cries until they're re-united. Once together, they confirm their familial ties by sniffing each other.
In the case of danger, the protective mother elephant seal will usually place herself between her pup and harm's way whether it be another seal that is approaching or the incoming tide.
Sometimes, the mother elephant seal will simply take her pup down to the water's edge seemingly to introduce it to the medium in which it will spend about eighty-five percent of its life.
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