Difference between revisions of "Template:POTD protected"

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'''[[Mount Murphy]]''' is a massive, snow-covered and highly eroded shield volcano with steep, rocky slopes. It is directly south of the [[Bear Peninsula]] in [[Westarctica]]. The mountain is bounded by the [[Smith Glacier|Smith]], [[Pope Glacier|Pope]], and [[Haynes Glacier]]s. Its lower slopes terminate at the [[Crosson Ice Shelf]].
The '''[[southern elephant seal]]''' is one of the two species of elephant seals. It is the largest member of the clade Pinnipedia and the order Carnivora, as well as the largest marine mammal that is not a cetacean. It gets its name from its massive size and the large proboscis of the adult male, which is used to produce very loud roars, especially during the breeding season.


Mount Murphy was delineated from aerial photographs taken by [[U.S. Navy]] Operation Highjump in January 1947. Named by US-ACAN for Robert Cushman Murphy of the American Museum of Natural History, noted authority on [[Antarctica|Antarctic]] and sub-Antarctic bird life. While serving on a [[whaling]] ship, he charted the Bay of Isles region of South Georgia. During a 1968 biological survey of [[Marie Byrd Land]], Mount Murphy was one of the few locations where [[snow petrel]]s were discovered. In addition to the petrels, the survey team also found algae.
The world population was estimated at 650,000 animals in the mid-1990s, and was estimated in 2005 at between 664,000 and 740,000 animals. Studies have shown the existence of three geographic subpopulations, one in each of the three oceans. Tracking studies have indicated the routes traveled by elephant seals, demonstrating their main feeding area is at the edge of the Antarctic continent. While elephant seals may come ashore in [[Antarctica]] occasionally to rest or to mate, they gather to breed in subantarctic locations.


<p><small>Photo Credit: NASA/Kathryn Hansen </small></p>
<p><small>Photographer: Liam Quinn</small></p>
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Latest revision as of 03:24, 2 May 2024

Elephant Seal penguins.jpg

The southern elephant seal is one of the two species of elephant seals. It is the largest member of the clade Pinnipedia and the order Carnivora, as well as the largest marine mammal that is not a cetacean. It gets its name from its massive size and the large proboscis of the adult male, which is used to produce very loud roars, especially during the breeding season.

The world population was estimated at 650,000 animals in the mid-1990s, and was estimated in 2005 at between 664,000 and 740,000 animals. Studies have shown the existence of three geographic subpopulations, one in each of the three oceans. Tracking studies have indicated the routes traveled by elephant seals, demonstrating their main feeding area is at the edge of the Antarctic continent. While elephant seals may come ashore in Antarctica occasionally to rest or to mate, they gather to breed in subantarctic locations.

Photographer: Liam Quinn

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