What a lot of bull

In November and early December each year, seal pups are born and adult seals breed. Big adult males, called bulls, try to hold territories in the colony during this period. These bulls can weigh 300 kg or more. A bull holding a territory might not get to feed for over 50 days. He must conserve his energy to last this long. So, most of the time he rests and sleeps.

Big bulls that can not get territories are called bachelors. Sometimes a bachelor will challenge a bull for his territory. To defend his territory, the bull mostly just glares or snorts at a challenger. Sometimes, he may have to show his teeth or stand up and show how big he is. On rare occasions, the challenger keeps coming. Then, the bull and challenger can have a fierce fight, with a lot of savage biting of each other. Such fights take a lot of energy and so don’t happen very often.