“Cozy Families” or “Hideous Brutes”?—Working with Southern Elephant Seals on the French Kerguelen Islands

Key Points

• This paper explores the tension between human exploitation and empathy towards southern elephant seals.
• Historical analysis of the 1908 expedition to Kerguelen Islands
• Examination of accounts from explorers and seal hunters
• Contextual evaluation of the marine mammal oil industry
• Illustrated the dual perspective of elephant seals as resources and sentient beings
• Demonstrated the ethical struggles faced by explorers in balancing industry goals with conservation
• Highlighted the evolving views on human-animal relationships over time.

Abstract