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During mating attempts by males, female elaphant seals, Mirounga angustirostris, are sometimes injured or killed as they return to sea at the end of lactation. We tested two predictions from the general hypothesis that females behave in a way that reduces the possibility of injury or death from sexual encounters with males: 1) departing females attempt to avoid males, and 2) if males cannot be avoided, departing females exhibit sexually receptive behavior to males, and thereby reduce the threat of injury from aggressive mating attempts. Circumstances surrounding the departure of 336 females from harems on the Año Nuevo rookery in central California were recorded over the course of nine breeding seasons from 1982-1990. Females did little to avoid encounters with males surrounding harems; they did not leave in greater numbers at night, in groups, or during disturbances on the harem periphery. They …