A two-ton hero saved a little cub (5 photos)

Altruism among elephant seals, especially during the mating season, is a real rarity.





Elephant seals can hardly be called good fathers. During mating season, these not-so-gentle giants are focused on fighting other males and mating with females.

According to Daniel Costa, an ecologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, during the rut, males do not even notice and crush their own offspring.



Sarah Allen and Matthew Lau, biologists with the National Park Service, were studying a colony of elephant seals at Point Reyes Wildlife Refuge, about 50 kilometers northwest of San Francisco. Passing by the rookery, they noticed a cub resting with its mother not far from the water.

The day was warm, and Allen decided that the animals were cooling off on the wet sand.





When Allen and Lau passed by the colony again on their way back, the situation changed. The tide carried the cub out to sea. He did not yet know how to swim and had difficulty staying afloat. The female was on the shore, responding to the plaintive cries of the baby, which attracted the attention of the male.



The elephant seal sniffed the female and rushed into the water. He reached the cub and gently pushed it towards the shore.

Allen has been observing the species for more than 40 years, but has never seen anything like it before. Dr Costa agreed: "This is completely unusual."



In January, Allen and her colleagues published the observations in the journal Marine Mammal Science. Dr Costa said the paper should encourage biologists to pay attention to similar behavior in elephant seals.

During the breeding season (roughly December to March), elephant seals try to conserve energy for mating and fighting rivals. And our hero not only left his harem of females, but also spent valuable energy.

“He ran so decisively and quickly to help,” Allen said. “And when he returned, he was so gentle.”