What Are the Differences Between a Northern and Southern Elephant Seal?

June 19, 2020

Minazo, possibly the only Southern Elephant Seal to both be a meme ("lolrus") and have a "Japanese Noise" album dedicated to him. Photo from his Japanese Wikipedia page.

I've always wondered what the differences are between the Northern and Southern Elephant Seals. At first I thought that both types of seals were generally the same except for what part of the world they lived in. Northern Elephant Seals live in the Northern Hemisphere, and Southern Elephant Seals live in the Southern Hemisphere. But when I did more research, I found that there are a few other differences than just what part of the world they live in.

Elephant Seals are bigger than you might think. This is a still from a good BBC segment on Elephant Seals

One big difference between the two types of Elephant Seals is the size of their noses. While all male Elephant Seals have big noses compared to other pinnipeds, the Southern Elephant Seal has a bigger nose (40 cm) than the Northern Elephant Seal (30 cm). When relaxed, the Northern Elephant Seals nose hangs over his mouth, unlike the Southern Elephant Seal.

Northern Elephant Seal, from NOAA Fisheries website

Southern Elephant Seal, from Wikipedia

One difference which surprised me, which I did not know, is that Southern Elephant Seals are more flexible than the Northern Elephant Seal. For example, Southern Elephant Seals can bend their back in a "U" or even a "V" shape. Northern Elephant Seals cannot bend as far backwards. The photo at the top of this post of Minazo is a good illustration of a Southern Elephant Seal's flexibility.

Even though there are some differences between the Northern and Southern Elephant Seals, they are very closely related. They are roughly the same size and weight, and of course they have their huge noses. If you recall my past research on "Seal Chonk" Northern Elephant Seals have a slightly larger Chonk (25) than Southern Elephant Seals (23), but those are close when you compare with other pinnipeds. I know that all pinnipeds can dive deep, and Elephant Seals are among the deepest divers of them all. Both of types of Elephant Seals dive to about 3000 feet, so there is not much difference in the depth to which they can dive.

During my research I found that Northern Elephant Seals have different dialects when they vocalize, but I could find no information on the Southern Elephant Seals. Someday I will research more about Northern Elephant Seal dialects. In the meantime, here are some Elephant Sea pictures for your enjoyment...

Female Southern Elephant Seal (lack of a large nose, as opposed to a male Elephant Seal) with a sensor device placed for scientific study, from the article "Seal Scientists"