Elephant Seals
Elephant seals are by far the largest of the different seals and sea lions found in Salish Sea. Adult males can be 15 feet long and weigh 5,000 pounds. These seals mate and give birth on beaches and islands off the coast of California and Mexico. Males make long distance migrations to southern Alaska and the Aleutian Islands and back twice a year while females tend to migrate west and have been sighted as far as Midway Atoll in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. While they forage off the continental shelf where they make dives almost a mile deep, some elephant seals do come into the inland waters surrounding the San Juan Islands to haul out to rest. Elephant seals hold their breath for long periods of time even while resting on land. This regularly fools people into thinking they are dead. In the summer, large male elephant seals can be seen around the San Juan Islands, inspiring some and baffling others.
