Elephant Seals Come Ashore To Breed | Wildest Latin America

The first to arrive are the huge 5 meter bulls who come early to claim the best beachfront spots.

When the females arrive in time to give birth after an 11 month pregnancy, they settle in harems around each male.

Elephant seals spend most of their lives at sea, but must come ashore to breed.

As a newborn seal takes its first breaths.

KELP gulls move.

It's not the pup they're after,

it's the placenta.

Packed with protein, it's rich pickings.

Seal milk is so nutritious, pups grow incredibly fast

and they need to.

Pups suckle for just three weeks before the females leave them to fend for themselves.

In this short time, they triple their weight while mothers lose nearly half of theirs.

This tiny whelp will weigh over 130 kilos by the time he's weaned.

One infant has been abandoned

and tries desperately to latch onto a foster mother.

But the female cannot afford to nurse two.

Her own pup will need every drop of milk she can provide if it's to stand any chance of survival.

Animals all along the coastline are focused on breeding and giving their offspring the best possible start in life.

The breeding season is brief, but it's a very busy time.

They are so focused on rearing young and defending territories that both males and females spend weeks without food.

Soon they'll strike out to sea where they'll spend the next 11 months traveling up to 30,000 kilometers as they forage for food in the deep ocean.

But before they embark on this epic journey, they need to mate.

Dominant males control a stretch of shore and have their pick of the females on their perch.

But it doesn't pay to be too complacent.

Younger males, or those that arrive too late to stake a claim, are always on the lookout for opportunities to mate.

On the sly.

One such Casanova checks to see if the coast is clear.

The interloper spots his chance and makes his move.

But it's hard to be subtle when you weigh three tons

and the females are far from cooperative.

But he's nothing if not persistent.

And his efforts pay off at last.

The commotion hasn't gone unnoticed. The alpha male finally realizes that there's a trespasser in his territory.

But the intruder has no intention of giving in. Now.

He squares up to his rival.

The two males tower four meters above the beach.

They're evenly matched.

Neither is willing to back down.

Fights can last as long as half an hour

and the results can be horrifying.

Thick blubber around their necks provides some protection. But huge canine teeth can inflict serious damage.

Bloodied and battered, the challenger finally retreats.

The beachmaster holds control of his harem.

Spring, summer and autumn are all packed into just a few months.

The Patagonian year has come full circle.