northern elephant seal
E107569
The northern elephant seal is a massive marine mammal of the eastern Pacific known for its extreme sexual dimorphism, deep-diving ability, and large breeding colonies on coastal islands and beaches.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| northern elephant seal canonical | 3 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T852060 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: northern elephant seal Context triple: [Channel Islands of California, fauna, northern elephant seal]
-
A.
Antarctic fur seal
The Antarctic fur seal is a marine mammal of the Southern Ocean known for its dense fur, large breeding colonies, and recovery from historic overhunting.
-
B.
Steller sea lion
The Steller sea lion is a large, cold-water marine mammal of the North Pacific known for its massive size, thick neck, and loud, roaring vocalizations.
-
C.
New Zealand fur seal
The New Zealand fur seal is a marine mammal native to New Zealand and southern Australia, known for its thick fur, agile swimming, and colonies along rugged coastal and subantarctic shores.
-
D.
Guadalupe fur seals
Guadalupe fur seals are a rare, medium-sized eared seal species native to the northeastern Pacific Ocean, known for their dense fur and recovery from near-extinction due to historic overhunting.
-
E.
Weddell seal
The Weddell seal is a large, deep-diving Antarctic seal species known for living year-round on sea ice and for its remarkable ability to vocalize underwater.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: northern elephant seal Target entity description: The northern elephant seal is a massive marine mammal of the eastern Pacific known for its extreme sexual dimorphism, deep-diving ability, and large breeding colonies on coastal islands and beaches.
-
A.
Antarctic fur seal
The Antarctic fur seal is a marine mammal of the Southern Ocean known for its dense fur, large breeding colonies, and recovery from historic overhunting.
-
B.
Steller sea lion
The Steller sea lion is a large, cold-water marine mammal of the North Pacific known for its massive size, thick neck, and loud, roaring vocalizations.
-
C.
New Zealand fur seal
The New Zealand fur seal is a marine mammal native to New Zealand and southern Australia, known for its thick fur, agile swimming, and colonies along rugged coastal and subantarctic shores.
-
D.
Guadalupe fur seals
Guadalupe fur seals are a rare, medium-sized eared seal species native to the northeastern Pacific Ocean, known for their dense fur and recovery from near-extinction due to historic overhunting.
-
E.
Weddell seal
The Weddell seal is a large, deep-diving Antarctic seal species known for living year-round on sea ice and for its remarkable ability to vocalize underwater.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (72)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
marine mammal
ⓘ
pinniped ⓘ species of mammal ⓘ |
| breedingRange |
Baja California
ⓘ
surface form:
Baja California, Mexico
California, United States ⓘ |
| breedingSeason | winter ⓘ |
| breedsOn |
coastal islands
ⓘ
sandy beaches ⓘ |
| class | Mammalia ⓘ |
| coatColor | grayish to brown ⓘ |
| commonName |
elephant seal
ⓘ
northern elephant seal ⓘ |
| conservationConcern |
disturbance at breeding colonies
ⓘ
vulnerability to climate change impacts on prey ⓘ |
| currentPopulationTrend | increasing ⓘ |
| describedBy |
Theodore Gill
ⓘ
surface form:
Theodore Nicholas Gill
|
| diet |
fish
ⓘ
rays ⓘ sharks ⓘ squid ⓘ |
| distinguishingFeature |
large inflatable proboscis in adult males
ⓘ
large, forward-facing eyes ⓘ thick blubber layer ⓘ |
| diveDepth | over 1500 meters ⓘ |
| diveDuration | over 60 minutes ⓘ |
| family | Phocidae ⓘ |
| femaleBehavior | fasts while nursing pups ⓘ |
| femaleLength | about 2.5 to 3.5 meters ⓘ |
| femaleMass | up to about 600 kg ⓘ |
| foragingHabitat | deep pelagic waters ⓘ |
| genus | Mirounga ⓘ |
| hasRelative | southern elephant seal ⓘ |
| historicalThreat | commercial sealing ⓘ |
| infraorder | Pinnipedia ⓘ |
| IUCNRedListCategorySystem |
IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria
ⓘ
surface form:
IUCN 3.1
|
| IUCNStatus | Least Concern ⓘ |
| kingdom | Animalia ⓘ |
| lactationLength | about 3 to 4 weeks ⓘ |
| lifespan | about 9 to 13 years in the wild ⓘ |
| locomotion | swimming with hind flippers ⓘ |
| maleBehavior | vocal displays and fights for dominance ⓘ |
| maleLength | up to about 4 to 5 meters ⓘ |
| maleMass | up to about 2300 kg ⓘ |
| matingSystem | highly polygynous ⓘ |
| migrationPattern | long-distance biannual migrations ⓘ |
| nativeTo | eastern Pacific Ocean ⓘ |
| nonBreedingRange | open ocean of the North Pacific ⓘ |
| notableColony |
Año Nuevo State Park, California
ⓘ
Guadalupe Island, Mexico ⓘ San Simeon, California ⓘ
surface form:
Piedras Blancas, California
San Miguel Island ⓘ
surface form:
San Miguel Island, California
|
| onLandMovement | undulating body and fore flippers ⓘ |
| order | Carnivora ⓘ |
| phylum | Chordata ⓘ |
| populationStatus19thCentury | near extinction ⓘ |
| primaryPredator |
great white shark
ⓘ
killer whale ⓘ |
| protectedBy |
Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972
ⓘ
various national and state laws in the United States and Mexico ⓘ |
| pupBirthSeason | winter ⓘ |
| pupRearingStrategy | short intensive lactation ⓘ |
| reproduction | single pup per breeding season ⓘ |
| restBehaviorAtSea | sleep during drift dives ⓘ |
| scientificName | Mirounga angustirostris ⓘ |
| sexualDimorphism | extreme ⓘ |
| socialStructure | colonial breeder ⓘ |
| species | Mirounga angustirostris ⓘ |
| suborder | Caniformia ⓘ |
| taxonRank | species ⓘ |
| thermoregulation | use of blubber and peripheral vasoconstriction ⓘ |
| weaning | abrupt ⓘ |
| yearDescribed | 1866 ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: northern elephant seal Description of subject: The northern elephant seal is a massive marine mammal of the eastern Pacific known for its extreme sexual dimorphism, deep-diving ability, and large breeding colonies on coastal islands and beaches.
Referenced by (3)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.