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Post by brobear on Oct 28, 2019 8:55:30 GMT -5
www.marinemammalcenter.org/education/marine-mammal-information/pinnipeds/northern-elephant-seal/ Elephant seals are well named because adult males have large noses that resemble an elephant's trunk. Males begin developing this enlarged nose, or proboscis, at sexual maturity (about three to five years), and it is fully developed by seven to nine years. Adult males may grow to over 13 feet (4 m) in length and weigh up to 4,500 pounds (2,000 kg). The females are much smaller at 10 feet (3 m) in length and 1,500 pounds (600 kg). The northern elephant seal is the second largest seal in the world, after the southern elephant seal. The elephant seal is in the phocid, or true seal, family. It lacks external ear flaps and moves on land by flopping on its belly. The elephant seal has a broad, round face with very large eyes. Pups are born with a black coat which is molted, or shed, at about the time of weaning (28 days), revealing a sleek, silver-gray coat. Within a year, the coat will turn silvery brown. If a mature male boar grizzly ( Ursus arctos ) weighing from 1200 to 1400 pounds were to challenge a 4,000 pound elephant seal on the beach, how would this scenario play out?
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Post by OldGreenGrolar on Oct 28, 2019 9:14:04 GMT -5
Bull elephant seals are five times the weight of the female counterparts plus despite lacking the tusks, they are better fighters than walruses. Unlike a walrus, the elephant seal can turn its head to bite as well.
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Post by brobear on Oct 28, 2019 9:42:12 GMT -5
Can a huge boar grizzly over-power a behemoth triple his own weight that moves about on the beach like a gigantic caterpillar?
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Post by tom on Oct 28, 2019 11:27:51 GMT -5
What is it's main mechanism of defense?
I would think the Walrus would be the more dangerous due mainly because of those tusks. Giant Daggers that have killed Polar Bears. A large Brown Bear think Bart size would probably be much more agile and would use his claws and teeth to rake the hide of the Elephant Seal. What I don't know is how the Elephant Seal compares to the Walrus with regards to it's hide as the Walrus hide is incredibly thick and almost impervious to Polar bear claws.
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Post by brobear on Oct 28, 2019 12:24:53 GMT -5
True. I tried to find information on elephant seal hide. Came up empty. They have the teeth of carnivores, but not exceptionally large teeth. Bite-force unknown.
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Post by King Kodiak on Feb 12, 2020 17:25:01 GMT -5
No bear would ever challenge a 4000 lb elephant seal, but your question is what would happen if he does. Obviously there is not much the grizzly can do here. He would most likely end up leaving the fight or dead.
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Post by brobear on Feb 13, 2020 6:54:14 GMT -5
I honestly can't see a Kodiak-sized California grizzly - from the descriptions of the people of the times, like a Kodiak bear with a barren ground grizzly attitude - not seeing these humongous mountains of meat lying around on a beach, and at least preying on the cows and calves. There were also the big Steller sea lions.
Would a grizzly the size of Bart challenge a 4,000 pound elephant seal? Probably not.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2020 3:17:40 GMT -5
A hungry and powerful enough polar bear could attack and injure or even kill a bull elephant seal by ambush
They proved they can do that to powerful bull walruses so by ambush I think polar can kill it
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Post by brobear on Mar 1, 2020 3:27:24 GMT -5
A hungry and powerful enough polar bear could attack and injure or even kill a bull elephant seal by ambush They proved they can do that to powerful bull walruses so by ambush I think polar can kill it I don't think that polar bears ever see elephant seals; but you bring up some good points. Did a big California grizzly ever risk an attack on this mountain of flesh? It isn't likely that we will ever know. |
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Post by OldGreenGrolar on Jan 8, 2021 6:10:32 GMT -5
I would rather be a bear than an elephant seal.
At least all bears get to mate, winners and losers.
In the elephant seal world, very few males get to be beach masters, the losers might just die as virgins - mention near the end of the video.
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Post by OldGreenGrolar on Jan 9, 2021 8:57:20 GMT -5
The Northern elephant seal is smaller than its southern counterpart but I think a bull is still too much for any bear.
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Post by brobear on Jan 10, 2021 4:34:11 GMT -5
Northern Elephant Seal vs Polar Bear
 I doubt that the California grizzly ever attempted an attack on a bull elephant seal. But I would wager he preyed upon elephant seal pups and perhaps cows. Also he likely preyed upon Steller sea lions. |
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Post by OldGreenGrolar on Jan 10, 2021 4:37:54 GMT -5
In the Great Bear of Almanac, an extremely hungry male polar bear attacked a bowhead whale even though the attack failed. Therefore, an extremely hungry male might attack a bull elephant seal but will quickly abandon the attack when the seal retaliates.
I am not surprise if a Californian grizzly bear attacks an elephant seal cow. They are five times smaller than the bulls and far less formidable.
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Post by brobear on Oct 24, 2022 6:50:52 GMT -5
In the Great Bear of Almanac, an extremely hungry male polar bear attacked a bowhead whale even though the attack failed. Therefore, an extremely hungry male might attack a bull elephant seal but will quickly abandon the attack when the seal retaliates. I am not surprise if a Californian grizzly bear attacks an elephant seal cow. They are five times smaller than the bulls and far less formidable. I believe that this is exactly what the California grizzlies did. We have no reliable information as to the size of the California grizzly. No actual weights or measurements. However, the fact that every report on them stated that, with the exception of the giant salmon-eaters of Alaska, the Californians were the biggest grizzlies. If they were indeed larger than those of the Great Plains, who fed heavily on bison flesh, then they must have fed on elephant seals (females and juveniles) and possibly on Steller sea lions also. |
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Post by brobear on Oct 24, 2022 7:05:06 GMT -5
Can a huge boar grizzly over-power a behemoth triple his own weight that moves about on the beach like a gigantic caterpillar? (IMO) Yes. Realistically, a huge 1,000+ pound brown bear is not going to choose to attack such a monster. Northern elephant seal bulls reach a length of 4.3 to 4.8 m (14 to 16 ft) and the heaviest weigh about 2,500 kg (5,500 lb). But for the purpose of a debate, if the bull elephant seal and the half-ton brown bear fought to the death on the California beach, I believe that the bear would eventually kill the giant seal. The bear could dodge the attacks from the behemoth. A bull elephant seal can take a huge amount of punishment, as can be seen on the bodies of the old battle-scared veterans. So, this would not be an easy kill. I am curious as to the stamina of the elephant seal. |
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