4th November 2015. Sea Lion Island, Falkland Islands.

.

The beachmaster arrives.

Southern elephant seals can dive for more than twenty minutes and have been recorded more than 2,000 metres down.

.

I found a remote sheltered stony cove populated by elephant seals.  From my vantage point maybe ten feet above them, I was able to observe their interactions much more successfully than had I been at the same level.

.

Here he is, fresh from an elephant seal beauty contest in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

.

Whether his overtures are appreciated is not perhaps the point as far as he is concerned.

.

The pup looks on seemingly with curiosity and concern.

.

An illusory moment of domestic bliss, perhaps.

.

As one can see here, the beachmaster and a female are very different in size.  Adult male southern elephant seals weigh up to five tonnes and are up to seven metres long.

.

Hmm.  I had assumed those wounds on his nose were scars of combat.  Maybe there’s another explanation.

.

Two’s company…

.

I will resist the temptation to add an anthropomorphic label on this occasion.

.

… but maybe not this one:  “Always look on the bright side of life”…

.

One may indeed contend whether “romance” and elephant seals should be mentioned in the same sentence.

.

It’s possible that Donald Trump aspires to be a male elephant seal, though that’s perhaps being unfair to the elephant seals.

.

Beachmasters control a harem of up to several dozen females but need to be constantly on the lookout for interlopers trying to muscle in.

.

Being big is an advantage.

.

These contests are serious and they can carry many scars.

.

The interloper retreats.

.

And the contest continues in the sea.

.

But eventually he gives up and leaves the harem to the beachmaster.

.