Elephant Seal (youngsters)

Description:

Both adult and juvenile elephant seals are bar-skinned and black before molting. After molting, they have a silver to dark gray coat that fades to brownish-yellow and tan. Adult males have hairless necks and chests speckled with pink, white and light brown. Pups are mostly black at birth and molt to a silver gray after weaning.The eyes are large, round and black. The width of the eyes and a high concentration of low light pigments suggest sight plays an important role in the capture of prey. Elephant seals' bloodstreams are adapted to the cold in which a mixture of small veins surrounds arteries capturing heat from them. This structure is present in extremities such as the hind legs.A unique characteristic of the northern elephant seal is that it has developed the ability to store oxygenated red blood cells within its spleen.

Habitat:

Piedras Blancas State Reserve, CA.