Elephant Seals and More!

(December 30th) Having arrived at San Simeon, I was eager to wake up early and head out to the seals. Since I arrived the previous night in the dark, I also got to see what some of the coast looked like as the light came up. I remembered seeing the elephant seals at the end of their breeding and birthing period at the dunes of Ano Nuevo several years back. That did not prepare me for Piedras Blancas - here there were many more seals, and much more active.

A little bit of biology. These are large seals, not what most people think of when you hear of seals. They were hunted close to extinction at the end of the 19th century. But they have made an amazing comeback. At Piedras Blancas, you notice 3 main types of seals. First are the adult male seals. These are the largest - they can be 16 feet long and weigh over 5,000 pounds. That's a lot of seal! Here's a young male - too small to maintain a harem.

Aside from the males, the other players on the beach are the females and pups. The females are smaller than the males - 11 feet long and around 1,200 pounds. When I arrived a few pups had been born in the last couple of days. Here is a female with her pup.

After morning with the seals, I drove around a bit checking out some of the coast. There were some great views and birds close by. Then I took a drive south to Morro Rock where I saw this Western Gull hanging out before I headed back up for a late afternoon with the seals.