Strangely enough, as we near the middle of May, the amount of adult female elephant seals ashore to molt still seems to be increasing.
( Unconfirmed sources claim that there are many more adult females on the beaches at the Piedras Blancas elephant seal colony this year than in previous years.)
Maybe due to the extreme overcrowding on the part of the adult females, the remaining few of this year's weaners can only be observed on the small pocket beaches that the adult females have chosen not to occupy.
Another point of interest is that the vast majority of juvenile elephant seals also appear to be female this year instead of having about a 50-50 mix.
True, a few juvenile males can be seen mock sparring on the beaches and in the shallows. A couple of sub-adult males can also be found roaring on the beach or in the shallows.
If I were a scientist, I would be wondering why there not only seems to be far fewer juvenile male elephant seals to date this spring, but why the usual male competetiveness also seems to be absent.
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