Beachmaster bull southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) attempting to mate at Peggotty Bluff, South Georgia, Polar Regions

Battle-scarred beachmaster southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) bellowing a challenger, Peggotty Bluff, South Georgia, Polar Regions

Female southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) showing slight aggression at Moltke Harbor on South Georgia Island, Polar Regions

Southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) bull holding adult female in the surf to mate with her, South Georgia, Polar Regions

Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina), hauled out for their annual catastrophic molt (moult) on the beach at Snow Island, Antarctica, Polar Regions

Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina), hauled out for their annual catastrophic molt (moult) on the beach at Snow Island, Antarctica, Polar Regions

Pregnant female southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) giving birth on the beach in Stromness Bay, South Georgia Island

Adult male hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) hauled out on pack-ice in seasof Denmark Strait, between Iceland and Greenland

Southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) challenger bull in the surf at Gold Harbour on South Georgia Island, Polar Regions

Pregnant female southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) giving birth on the beach in Stromness Bay, South Georgia Island

Pregnant female southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) giving birth on the beach in Stromness Bay, South Georgia Island

Pregnant female southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) giving birth on the beach in Stromness Bay, South Georgia Island

Southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) pup, called weaners once their mothers stop nursing, South Georgia Island, Southern Ocean

Mother southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) posturing at breeding site at Peggotty Bluff on South Georgia Island, Polar Regions

An adult polar bear (Ursus maritimus) leaping from ice floe to ice floe in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, Arctic, Europe

Adult bull southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) hauled out to molt at Grytviken on South Georgia, Polar Regions

Northern giant petrels (Macronectes halli) fighting over the scavenging rights to a dead fur seal pup at St. Andrews Bay, South Georgia

Female southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) with newborn pup on the beach in Stromness Bay, South Georgia Island

Adult Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) hauled out on ice near the Antarctic Peninsula, Southern Ocean, Polar Regions

Hundreds of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) hauled out onto the breeding beach at Gold Harbour, South Georgia, Polar Regions

Leucistic Antarctic Fur Seal pup, Arctocephalus gazella, amongst normally coloured animals, South Georgia, South Atlantic Ocean. Leucism is a general term for the phenotype resulting from defects in pigment cell differentiation and/or migration from the neural crest to skin, hair or feathers . This results in either the entire surface or patches of the body surface having a lack of cells capable of making pigment.

Leucistic Antarctic Fur Seal pup, Arctocephalus gazella, South Georgia, South Atlantic Ocean. Leucism is a general term for the phenotype resulting from defects in pigment cell differentiation and/or migration from the neural crest to skin, hair or feathers . This results in either the entire body surface or patches of the body surface having a lack of cells capable of making pigment.