A few weeks ago I had the good fortune to join my Aquarium kids on our field experience to Año Nuevo State Park, the home of approximately 10,000 northern elephant seals. I get to do this trip every two to three years old and I love it every time. We tend to visit Año in January because that is the height of the pupping and breeding season.
There is a lot happening on the beach at this time. The biggest, experienced males (aka the beachmasters) establish dominance when they arrive and establish a large harem of females. Fights between males tend to break out when a beta gets a bit too close to the alpha male's section of the beach and the ladies on it. The fights are loud, sometimes bloody, and often result in females and pups being separated and sometimes crushed. These younger males on the edges of the harem are unlikely to take over the harem, but sometimes get lucky and manage to sneak into the harem and mate when the alpha male is not paying attention. Researchers only recently discovered these "sneaker" males were contributing to the gene pool much more than they thought. A bit further from the harem, juvenile males with no chance of establishing a harem or standing up to an alpha male, practice their fighting moves. The females give birth to a single pup a few days after they arrive at the beach and nurse their pups with milk that has 40% milk fat! For reference, human and cow milk is about 4%. Elephant seal milk is more like mayonnaise than milk. The pups put on about 10 pounds per day! While all this is going on, the colony is a noisy place. The seals have a wide range of squeaks, squawks, and snorts that give great pleasure to the humans watching them.
The weather at Año is often anything less than stellar, so I went prepared with thermals, fleece, down vest, rain coat, and beanie. The day turned out to be spectacular, rendering everything but my base layer unnecessary. The skies were blue, there was no wind, and the temperature topped out around 65 degrees F. We were also really fortunate that our trip coincided with the king tides--the highest high tide (and lowest low tide) of the year. The high tide was just a couple hours before our tour reached the beach, so most of the seals were far up on the beach and very close to the viewing areas. We also had some close encounters with younger males that were lounging away from the main beach area.
While the docent guided us around the colony, we were supposed to stay at least 25 yards away from these giant animals. Looking at the 4,000 pound males, you would think that a quarter football field would be a pretty safe distance. If they are not happy with your presence, however, they can move FAST, so we tried to keep as much distance as possible. Most just opened an eye to make sure we were keeping our distance, gave us a snort, and then rolled over and went back to sleep. The seals can move quickly on land, but they definitely look a bit clumsy as they bounce along the beach. In the water, though, they are incredible swimmers and divers. When they leave Año in a couple months, the males will head off toward Alaska, while the females head out to the middle of the Pacific. They can dive to depths over 5,000 feet and hold their breath for almost two hours! They will come back to the beach again in a few months to molt and then go back to sea for 8 months before returning to the beach to start the cycle of pupping and mating all over again.
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There is a lot happening on the beach at this time. The biggest, experienced males (aka the beachmasters) establish dominance when they arrive and establish a large harem of females. Fights between males tend to break out when a beta gets a bit too close to the alpha male's section of the beach and the ladies on it. The fights are loud, sometimes bloody, and often result in females and pups being separated and sometimes crushed. These younger males on the edges of the harem are unlikely to take over the harem, but sometimes get lucky and manage to sneak into the harem and mate when the alpha male is not paying attention. Researchers only recently discovered these "sneaker" males were contributing to the gene pool much more than they thought. A bit further from the harem, juvenile males with no chance of establishing a harem or standing up to an alpha male, practice their fighting moves. The females give birth to a single pup a few days after they arrive at the beach and nurse their pups with milk that has 40% milk fat! For reference, human and cow milk is about 4%. Elephant seal milk is more like mayonnaise than milk. The pups put on about 10 pounds per day! While all this is going on, the colony is a noisy place. The seals have a wide range of squeaks, squawks, and snorts that give great pleasure to the humans watching them.
The weather at Año is often anything less than stellar, so I went prepared with thermals, fleece, down vest, rain coat, and beanie. The day turned out to be spectacular, rendering everything but my base layer unnecessary. The skies were blue, there was no wind, and the temperature topped out around 65 degrees F. We were also really fortunate that our trip coincided with the king tides--the highest high tide (and lowest low tide) of the year. The high tide was just a couple hours before our tour reached the beach, so most of the seals were far up on the beach and very close to the viewing areas. We also had some close encounters with younger males that were lounging away from the main beach area.
pup and mama seal (and gull waiting for some goodies)
a raven after a recent placenta feast
the main beach - all those blobs are elephant seals
male elephant seal guarding his lady from another male
it was warm out there so the seals were flipping
sand onto themselves to try to stay cool
sand onto themselves to try to stay cool
likely a 3ish-year old male staying far away from the rowdy harem
A weaner, or pup from this year whose mom has gone back to sea.
This pup will hang out on the beach for a couple months before
heading out to sea. They are so fat when they are weaned that they
have to stay on the beach because they are too floaty to dive for food.
This pup will hang out on the beach for a couple months before
heading out to sea. They are so fat when they are weaned that they
have to stay on the beach because they are too floaty to dive for food.
they don't really give the impression that they can move fast
We are so fortunate to have these giants in our backyard. That wasn't a certain thing a hundred years ago. The northern elephant seals were hunted to near extinction for their blubber. In 1910, a remnant population of about 100 animals was found on Guadalupe Island in Baja California, Mexico. Protection by the Mexican government and subsequently the U.S. government allowed these animals to make a come back. They now number over 100,000 in California. During the government shutdown, they even took over some new real estate at Point Reyes National Seashore when rangers were not around to redirect them to a location less frequented by humans. Now that they have pups, the seals are there to stay and human access is being limited.
You can find these giant seals in three mainland locations in California - Point Reyes, Año Nuevo, and Piedras Blancas at the southern end of Big Sur. If you are in central California between December and February, plan a visit to see these charismatic giants.
