Southern elephant seals are found throughout the sub-Antarctic regions,
coming ashore only in their breeding season (fin August – October) and to
moult (females: December – January; males: March – April).
All the colonies formed during breeding or moulting season are on
islands, with the exception of Península Valdés which contains the only
continental colony. Due to their wide distribution, the global
population is divided into sub-populations or ‘stocks’. The
sub-population of South Georgia is the largest and includes 50% of the
global population, containing more or less 400.000 animals. The
population of Península Valdés is the smallest, containing about 50.000
individuals and an annual production of 15.000 pups. Other important
stocks are located at Macquarie Island (over 80.000 individuals) and the
Kerguélen Islands.
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