Event

Elephant Seals Talking

Date: 

Sun, 01/19/2014 - 13:00

If you and your nemesis both weigh 4500 pounds and have enormous teeth, then actual fighting comes at a high price. It costs a lot of energy and it carries a lot of risk. So male northern elephant seals establish complex social networks—and communication systems to advertise them—so they don't have to fight every other guy on the beach. Pinniped Cognition & Sensory Systems Laboratory researcher Caroline Casey tells us all about it at this month's Science Sunday.

La Felix Room, Seymour Center, 100 Shaffer Rd, Santa Cruz. 1pm. Adults $8; seniors and students $6. 831.459.3800.

Photo: Two male elephant seals fighting near Piedras Blancas. Photo by Mike Baird on Wikimedia Commons.