They're 14-foot elephant seals who have their own Facebook pages -- and electronic tracking devices.
University of California, Santa Cruz biologists named the seals at Año Nuevo State Natural Reserve in honor of television's fake political pundits Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart.
Stelephant had 272 Facebook friends as of Friday. The seals' Facebook pages and blogs are maintained by student volunteers.
Both were tagged last year. Researchers glued tracking devices to their fur, and the devices are retrieved when the seals come ashore to mate in January.
The research group also maintains Facebook pages for 12 other seals, many named by elementary school students.

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