The Northern Elephant Seal is the second largest seal in the world. Adult males can grow over 13ft in length and weigh up to 4,500. Seeing these powerful creatures of the ocean in person at Año Nuevo during breeding season was one of my favorite wildlife encounters. They spend the majority of their lives in the ocean, only coming ashore to breed. The males will blow bubbles in the water to try to warn rival intruders to stay away.