Editing Elephant seal (section)

== Breeding season ==
[[File:Northern Elephant Seal rookery at San Simeon.jpg|thumb|Northern Elephant Seal rookery at San Simeon, California.]]
Males arrive at potential breeding sites in spring, and fast to ensure that they can mate with as many females as possible.<ref name=":2" /> Male elephant seals use fighting, vocalisations, and different positions to determine the dominant males.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Laws|first=R|date=1956|title=The Elephant Seal: General, Social, and Reproductive Behavior|journal=Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey|volume=13}}</ref> By the time males reach eight to nine years of age, they have developed a pronounced long nose, in addition to a chest shield, which is thickened skin in their chest area.<ref name=":2" /> They display their dominance by showing their noses, making loud vocalisations, and altering their postures.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /> They fight each other by raising themselves and ramming each other with their chests and teeth.<ref name=":2" />

By the time females arrive, each dominating male has already established his territory on the beach.<ref name=":2" /> Females cluster in groups called harems, which consist of up to 50 females surrounding one alpha male.<ref name=":2" /> Outside of these groups, a beta bull is normally roaming around on the beach.<ref name=":2" /> The beta bull helps the alpha by preventing other males accessing the females.<ref name=":2" /> In return, the beta bull might have an opportunity to mate with one of the females while the alpha is occupied.<ref name=":2" />

Birth on average only takes a few minutes, and the mother and pup have a connection due to each other's unique smell and sound.<ref name=":2" /> The mothers will fast and nurse up to 28 days, providing their pups with rich milk.<ref name=":2" /> The last two to three days, however, females will be ready to mate, and the dominant males will pounce on the opportunity.<ref name=":2" /> Males and females lose up to a third of their body weight during the breeding season.<ref name=":2" /> The [[gestation]] period for females is 11 months, and the pupping seasons lasts from mid to late summer.<ref name=":2" /> The new pups will spend up to 10 additional weeks on land learning how to swim and dive.<ref name=":2" />