Elephant seals frequent a few different sites around the Falkland Islands. The easiest place to see them is on Sea Lion Island where this series of photos were taken. Dense groups of girthy blubbery bodies lay strewn across the sand – resting, snorting, and belching, while battle-scarred bull males and wanna-be dominant males duke it out for their place as the top dog, and for unhindered access to the females who barely tolerate them. The fights can be bloodied and violent with raised body slapping, biting, and roaring through their less than endearing proboscis like snouts. The females were giving birth, with various birds waiting on the sidelines to gobble up a free meal of placenta – nothing is wasted and everything is recycled. The newborn pups are fed nutrient rich milk for three weeks gaining up to 6kg a day, hopefully avoiding being crushed by the bull males that barrel through the colony with no regard for anything in the way. Then they’re on their own. The wrinkly, sausage-like, doe-eyed “weaner” pups are seriously cute and will often hang out with other weaners for 2-3 months before they get the hang of swimming and migrate to the ocean. This experience was straight out of a BBC documentary!
