How do they do it? slowly...

Elephant seals are large marine mammals that still rely on land for important aspects of their life stages, as much as, they depend on the deep ocean for rich foraging grounds of squid species. It isn't too hard to tell as soon as you see them that they aren't exactly built to move gracefully on land anymore.

So how do they find themselves 100's of meters away from the ocean on rocky shorelines? well, slowly, really slowly and steady, as that is the way you win the race so they say. Well, basically they push themselves up with their front flippers and use their heavy size to push forward in a vertical undulation. Do you remember the popular dance move from back in the 80's/90's the worm? The one you thought was cool when you were a teenager? That is the movement...

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A Juvenile male Elephant seal making his way over the rocky beach

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However, these fellas can weigh up to and at times over 3tonnes, which is a lot of weight to carry around. They will flop themselves about 2-3meters at a time, followed by a breather for a minute or two then followed by another flopping momentum a few more meters. Another impressive factor is that they look way to comfortable when moving over sharp, rocky landscapes, which is anything but luxuriously soft. They always seem to look happy and peaceful when napping and resting, as they wouldn't want to be anywhere else at that given point in time.

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