RARE OPPORTUNITY OF WELCOMING A SOUTHERN ELEPHANT SEAL.......

A vagrant juvenile southern seal ( female) was spotted for the first time in the history off the seas of Unawatuna in the south in the 3 rd week of November and after a couple of days in that vicinity it was seen in Colombo between Wellawatta and Colpity  and to date its found daily in the area.
Its now established that it must have come from Kerguelen Islands in the Antarctic some 6,000km away and the reason and how it ended up here is still unknown.

Although people have been seen flocking to see it initially, they have been educated and advised now by the conservationists to give the animal some space as its going through the annual moulting process.

I have seen it a couple of times where I was able to photograph at a distance, and I get the feeling that it's now settling down to the new environment getting used to people etc....I sincerely hope that it would survive in the new environment and make its way back in due course after giving us a very rare opportunity to interact with this wonderful mammal.

The southern elephant seal is distinguished from the northern elephant seal (which does not overlap in range with this species) by its greater body mass and a shorter proboscis. The southern males also appear taller when fighting, due to their tendency to bend their backs more strongly than the northern species. This species may also exhibit the greatest sexual dimorphism of any mammal in terms of mass ratio, with males typically five to six times heavier than females.On average female southern elephant seals weigh 400 to 900 kg (880 to 1,980 lb) and measure 2.6 to 3 m (8.5 to 9.8 ft) long, whereas bulls can range from 2,200 to 4,000 kg (4,900 to 8,800 lb) and grow to 4.2 to 5.8 m (14 to 19 ft) in length. For comparison, among the northern elephant seal and the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus)--two other large marine mammals that are highly sexual dimorphic by size--males typically outweigh females by a factor of three; exceptionally massive bulls may weigh four times as much as females.

Southern elephant seal size also varies regionally. Studies have indicated elephant seals from South Georgia are around 30% heavier and 10% longer on average than those from Macquarie Island\
.The record-sized bull, shot in Possession Bay, South Georgia, on 28 February 1913, measured 6.85 m (22.5 ft) long and was estimated to weigh a hulking 5,000 kg (11,000 lb), although it was only partially weighed piecemeal. The maximum size of a female is 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) and 3.7 m (12 ft). 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. Like all seals, elephant seals have hind limbs whose ends form the tail and tail fin. Each of the "feet" can deploy five long, webbed fingers. This agile dual palm is used to propel water. The pectoral fins are used little while swimming. While their hind limbs are unfit for locomotion on land, elephant seals use their fins as support to propel their bodies. They are able to propel themselves quickly (as fast as 8 km/h (5.0 mph)) in this way for short-distance travel, to return to water, to catch up with a female, or to chase an intruder.

Pups are born with fur and are completely black. Their coats are unsuited to water, but protect infants by insulating them from the cold air. The first moulting accompanies weaning. After moulting, the coats may turn grey and brown, depending on the thickness and moisture of hair. Among older males, the skin takes the form of a thick leather which is often scarred.

Like other seals, the vascular system of elephant seals is adapted to the cold; a mixture of small veins surround arteries, capturing heat from them. This structure is present in extremities such as the hind legs.

The world population was estimated at 650,000 animals in the mid-1990s,^[1] and was estimated in 2005 at between 664,000 and 740,000 animals.^[14] Studies have shown the existence of three geographic sub populations, one in each of the three oceans.

The largest sub population is in the South Atlantic, with more than 400,000 individuals, including about 113,000 breeding females on South Georgia; the other breeding colonies of the Atlantic sub population are located on the Falkland Islands and Valdes Peninsula in Argentina (the only continental breeding population).

The second sub population, in the south Indian Ocean, consist of up to 200,000 individuals, three-quarters of which breed in the Kerguelen Islands and the rest in the Crozet Islands, Marion and Prince Edward Islands, and Heard Island. Some individuals also breed on Amsterdam Island.