Southern elephant seals are the largest of all seals with males reaching 13 to 16 feet in length and 7,720 pounds in weight, according to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania.

The accompanying footage shows a massive elephant seal – they can weigh 4,500 pounds – hauling ashore in Mulege , Mexico, in July 2022, disrupting a family beach outing.

A devastating H5N1 outbreak killed over 17,000 elephant seals, including 97% of pups, at Argentina’s Península Valdés. A study shows the virus spread among marine mammals and evolved distinct strains, ...

southern elephant seal, which is also the largest carnivoran.[b] Several species exhibit sexual dimorphism. They have streamlined bodies and four limbs that are modified into flippers.

A year after an outbreak of H5N1 killed thousands of elephant seals in Argentina, only about a third of the seals normally expected here returned, scientists estimate.