Vocalizations
Elephant seals are extremely vocal on and close to land whereas their vocal communications under water seem to be limited to a few grunts and clicking sounds. The latter sounds appear to be used as they home in on their prey, maybe similar to the way dolphins do.
Pups have the shrillest voices of all, using them almost constantly to badger their moms, usually for more milk, or to sound the alarm about an approaching intruder.
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The weaners are probably the most vociferous of any age group, with their voices being a little deeper than those of the pups. They're great communicators, constantly calling out to each other during their awake times while on shore. When one of the weaners reckons it's time to enter the ocean at low tide for a local swimming/foraging excursion, he/she will call out repeatedly to the others, who will then form lines to enter the sea. Then, later, as the tide rises and the weaners return to shore, they will keep calling out to locate other weaners on the beach until one or more responds.
Adolescent or juvenile elephant seals have a pitch akin to that of the weaners, but they don't communicate nearly as much.
As male elephant seals enter puberty, their voices drop and they start sounding like adult males although their trumpeting doesn't yet have the deep resonance of the older males.
Adult females make a variety of sounds depending on the situation at hand. For example, they'll emit a deep bark as a warning to other seals to keep their distance, or they'll make shriller calls if separated from their pup.
Adult males have the most amazing set of extremely loud and deep trumpeting calls, one kind of which is used to alert other seals as to their position. Another well-known male elephant seal call is the ominous threat-clap, which they use to keep other males at bay. Still other calls seem to signify victory, or ' here I come...move over '. They may also try to attract females by ' serenading ' along the birthing beaches.
Male elephant seals of all ages seem to make use of the enhanced sound effects that the sharp jutting out rocks close to the beaches provide to their roars. The magnified sounds make the elephant seals appear bigger and thus more threatening or attractive.
Scientists claim that each rookery has its own dialect and that if elephant seals change rookeries, they quickly learn the new dialect.