Table 1 Number of living and dead southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) at Punta Delgada breeding colony (Península Valdés, Argentina) during the 2023 mortality event (three site visits) compared to baseline data from previous years (one site visit, a census conducted the first week of October)

Status	Age class, sex, and male alpha status	Baseline (first week of October census)			Mortality event ^a
Status	Age class, sex, and male alpha status	5-Oct-2013	4-Oct-2015	5-Oct-2022	10-Oct-2023	3-Nov-2023	13-Nov-2023
Living	Pups (nursing)	536	534	647	218	10	8
	Pups (weaners)	81	70	58	17	30	30
	Alpha males (subadult 4 or adult)	12	21	18	4	1	0
	Alpha males (subadults 1 to 3)	2	1	0	13	2	0
	Subordinate males (subadults 1 to 3)	5	37	47	28	25	9
	Adult females	589	707	746	370	12	9
	Juveniles	1	0	0	2	91	390
Dead	Pups (nursing)	7	2	5	570	NE ^b	NE ^b
	Pups (weaners) ^c	0	0	0	0	2	2
	Subadults/Adults ^c,d	0	0	0	13	30	35
	Juveniles	0	0	0	0	0	0

It should be noted that prior to 2023, the Península Valdés population of southern elephant seals had been increasing by 1.0 to 3.4% per year⁹⁴
Notes: ^aThe earliest observation of elephant seal mortality at Punta Delgada was on 25-Sep-2023, but no counts are available; ^bNot estimated because many carcasses had been buried by sand or removed by tides; ^cDegraded carcasses were also counted, hence counts should be interpreted as overlapping/cumulative; ^dAge subclasses and sexes combined, since carcass decomposition precluded the determination of age subclass and sex.

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