What ocean zone does the southern elephant seal live/feed in?
The range of the southern elephant seal is in sub-Antarctic regions, such as Tasmania, New Zealand, South Africa, South Georgia, etc. They feed on cephalopods, so they must make moderately deep dives to find their food–sometimes up to 1700m deep (in the bathypelagic zone). How deep the seal needs to dive to find its food varies throughout the day. As night approaches, seal dives become shallower, because cephalopods and zooplankton (the entire deep scattering layer) move upwards to feed. As day approaches, the deep scattering layer retreats into the darkness again, so the seals must make deeper dives.
