What it is
The northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) is a huge seal of the eastern North Pacific. Adult males are several times heavier than females and have a large, fleshy nose that they can inflate. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists it as Least Concern.
Range
Coastal waters and beaches of the eastern North Pacific, breeding in California and in Baja California, Mexico.
What happened
Commercial sealing in the nineteenth century killed so many northern elephant seals that they were thought to be extinct. A few hundred survived in Mexico, and every northern elephant seal alive today descends from them. Under protection the herds grew again, and the California population alone was about 187,000 in 2013.
When / status
Least Concern now, breeding again on beaches in the United States and Mexico.
Human role
Commercial sealing nearly wiped it out, and today entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with boats threaten it.