Elephant Seal Battle
Life and Death Engagements
On the other end of the spectrum of drama and conflict, we have the life and death engagements of bull elephant seals pitting themselves against one another in heated territorial disputes over chosen females. These videos feature the best and most graphic scenes that we’ve discovered of male elephant seals at the height of pugilistic glory...
The most spectacular elephant seal battle video we’ve found online
A bloody, testosterone-driven, phallus-bashing mini-documentary on elephant seal battles by National Geographic
A contemplative and masterful duel between two leviathan bull elephant seals. Learn about the incredible subtlety and range of physical and emotional cues that elephant seals wield in these brutal games of dominance and territoriality...
Two young bull elephant seals go at it in this homegrown video with a great running commentary by a young child in the background.
An emotionally gripping montage of elephant seal battle footage set to an operatic score...
Two bull elephant seals stand off...
National Geographic’s strong depiction of male elephant seal battle behaviors, with a tickler at the end...
Although we play up these elephant seal battles because they’re thrilling for us, actual physical fighting between bull elephant seals is rare...
Even at the climax of male competition during mating season, only about 5% of the interactions between male contenders get physical. On the other hand, more than 70% of these competitive showdowns include impressive and complex vocalization displays. Whatever happens in these acoustic demonstrations is often sufficient to diffuse a serious and potentially lethal physical battle. So vocalization and other related forms of communication are really where much of elephant seal energy is going, and is worthy of our serious attention and research...
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