Elephant Seals

Today we went and watched elephant seals in the Ano Nuevo State Reserve, which is on the Pacific Coast about 40 miles south of San Francisco. They come to the Reserve every winter to give birth as well as re-produce, and there is limited access for visitors to keep the animals wild. The males are extremely territorial and fight non-stop to ensure that their genes will make it to the next generation. Some of the explanations made us realize how human behavior is related to that :-) The males have harems which they try to protect from other males. The females hang out on the beach and nurse their new-borns, but shortly after they have given birth, they are ready to reproduce. That makes for an interesting setting, with the pups still nursing and the alpha males looking to mate. The females then leave their pups after about 4 weeks, and, after loosing about 30% of their body weight due to nursing, try to regain their weight. In the meantime, the fertilized egg remains dormant until they are back to their strength, at which point their pregnancy "starts" again.

It was a rainy day (although it stopped raining when our tour started), which made the seals very active. Here are some impressions. The videos are even more telling, I just need to figure out how to minimize their size.

Brown pelicans were scanning the water for food.


These juveniles were checking us out; we could walk up to about 25 feet from them; they don't have the developed nose yet, and look a little funny......


Except for the pups, none of the seals eats anything while staying in this area (for up to 3 months!), so they are very concerned about their energy use. They will lounge for long periods, and only the absolute necessary movement will be undertaken. The males can weigh up to 5,000 lbs and are 14-16 feet in length, the females weigh up to 2,000 lbs at a length of 10-12 feet. Still, they look very cute with their puppy eyes :-)




Here is a bull trying to impressive the local females with his chest and mating noises, which are amplified through his nose.

A juvenile is checking out the scenery....


Two bulls are fighting in the midst of the colony.


... and the winner is....... Foreplay consists of a bite in the neck, then a brief mating session, ended by her biting his nose.....


Nature is so close, and so beautiful! Here is a link to the Reserve if you want to get some more information:

Ano Nuevo State Reserve