Ironically, they suffer shortened lives due to damage sustained by their teeth and gums. Weddell seals use sonar to hunt and navigate. They breed on the ice in the spring, and the males stake territories under the ice. There are about 500,000 elephant seals. Elephant seals spend most of their time at sea feeding on squid and fish, but in September they come ashore to breed in three large groups in the Subantarctic Islands.
Elephant seals are fiercely territorial.
The males use this feature during breeding, to stake out claims and intimidate other males by erupting into resonating bellows. Male elephant seals often scar each other violently during breeding season, and they also scar the females' necks during intercourse. The sole Antarctic representative of the Otariids is the Antarctic fur seal. Antarctic fur seals breed on the Subantarctic Islands, returning to the same place each year. During breeding seasons, the territorial males often wound each other badly.