MAIACETUS: Elephant Seal onshore in Esquimalt!

This morning Five Star whale watching captain, Trev, looked out of his apartment in Esquimalt, near the Songhees, to find an elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostrus) hauled out on the beach below! When he went to get a better look another resident told him the seal had hauled out on the small beach the night before and stayed overnight. The animal was definitely moulting as the skin and fur on it's back was peeling off and sore looking.

Elephant seal hauled up on the beach along the Esquimalt/Songhees waterfront

Although Trev had to leave the scene many people checked on it throughout the day and fisheries officers came to assess the situation and put up signs to inform the public about the elephant seal, the process of moulting and to ask people to keep themselves and their dogs at a distance. There was even some speculation that the elephant seal is pregnant...especially since the first birth of an elephant seal at Race Rocks occurred this past January (read the Times Colonist article). It is more likely though, that this is a juvenile seal hauled out for its annual moult. According to Robin Baird's article about elephant seals around Vancouver Island, the moult occurs at different times of the year depending on the age and sex of the animal and juveniles elephant seals (1.5 - 2.0 m in length) tend to haul out in the spring.

Signs to tell public about the elephant seal, it's moult and asking people to give it space

After finishing work today, myself and fellow whale watcher, Nicola, decided to check out the animal ourselves and take some photos. The animal seemed fine except for the not-so-nice looking but but normal shedding of fur and skin that occurs during a moult.

So what exactly is the moult all about?

All true seals (or phocid seals) undergo an annual moult. During this time the new growth of hair requires increased supplies of blood to the seal's skin. If an elephant seal doesn't leave the water this could result in excessive heat loss since heat is lost 32x faster in cold water than in cold air. So elephant seals, like the one seen today, spend more time ashore during this period. For both species of elephant seal (northern or southern elephant seals) the seal can come to shore to moult in areas that are as far as 1000 km away from their foraging areas! (Source: 2002, Marine Mammal Biology: an evolutionary approach, Ed. R. Hoelzel) Elephant seals typically spend about a month ashore during this "catastrophic moult" and can lose up to 25% of their body weight during the process!

This photos shows the fur and skin being shed during the moult. If the skin becomes infected during the moult bleeding can result which appears to be the case for this animal.