Heading into the Last Month of the Fall Haul-Out

In the last few days, along with the very poignant smell of sardines and/or other bait fish a large quantity of tan-colored young elephant seals have suddenly showed up and are adorning the sandy beaches of the Piedras Blancas colony. As these chubby, well-fed newcomers start their R and R, sleep seems to currently be at the top of the list of their priorities.

In the meantime, there are many days where action amongst the occupants of the pocket beaches has been fast and furious.


Click here to see more photos of action shots.

Sprinkled amongst these youngsters, a few pregnant females can be spotted trying to relax, as the roars of engangement from a few early sub-adult males can be heard resounding across the coastal waters.


Click here to see young male elephant seals inside the waves or just at the surface.

As we head into November, the last month of the Fall Haul-Out, more and more sub-adult males will be showing up supposedly to rest but more likely to engage in rollicking dominance encounters.


Click here to see close-ups of young males in feisty enounters.

Click here to see video of not often seen male elephant seal behavior.

Elephant Seal Seasons at Piedras Blancas, CA

To find out when which elephant seals are at the Piedras Blancas colony on the central coast of California, you should take a look at my newly released ebook at Smashwords.com. The straight-forward descriptions provide ample information, and the accompanying high quality color photos of these fascinating marine mammals complete the picture.

Click here for direct link.

You can also watch this promo video on my YouTube Channel, Elephant Seal Action Videos. Click here to find out more about this book.

Keep an eye out for hardcopies that will soon be available on Amazon.com.

Hope you find this informative.

Weaners Galore

Since the threat of a far-reaching tsunami caused by the devastating 9.0 earthquake in Japan has finally dissipated, one would think that the elephant seals camped out on the shores of the central coast would continue their regular business.

Most of the current elephant seal population is composed of this year's pups, who recently matured into weaners. The majority of these have gathered together in oversized weaner pods on just a couple of the local beaches in the Piedras Blancas area instead of being dottted along the coast as in previous years.

An observer might be amazed as the members of the weaner pod at the north end of the Piedras Blancas viewing center seem to be unusually active, feisty and agitated - biting and snapping at anything and everything that's in their vicinity rather than mainly sleeping away their days, conserving energy. Extreme backbends also seem to be the order of the day as many of these maybe not-so-small twirling dervishes are making the most of a pool formed through a combination of high tides and water deposited from a large agricultural drainage pipe.

Click here to see video of weaners in pool.

Another interesting point is the amount of large adult male elephant seals that are still present. One could say that they're there to protect the weaners. But are they ? Scientists believe that the adult males are only interested in mature females. However, my observations of the adult males would seem to point to their protective nature not only towards females but also towards the pups and/or the weaners.

So far, only a handful of the females have returned to the beaches to rest and start their catastrophic molt. Additionally, on some of the small pocket beaches, a few well-fed young males have already hauled out to begin their molting period.

Click here to see more photos.

Aggressive and Domineering Alpha Males in Action

Although off to a sleepy start earlier this season, the large adult males are now competing with the sub-adult males as to who can be more aggressive as the birthing season is getting into full swing.

Usually the large males wait for the females to enter into heat before attempting to mate. ( Three weeks after the pup is born, females are in heat for about a week. ) This year, however, it seems to be more about dominance, as males of all ages are attempting to take possession of any female or youngster on shore or in the shallows. This act of aggression/dominance is also happening to females who have just given birth.

Even though more females have come ashore, their numbers seem currently to be less than in years prior, whereas the males appear to be more than plentiful.

So far, the pups look robust and healthy, and their moms are doing a great job of fiercely protecting them from other elephant seals as well as the cold waters of the Pacific.

Click here for more photos.

Click here to check out my YouTube Elephant Seal Video Channel.

High Tides, Alpha Males, Few Adult Females

Similar to last year, this winter's incoming tides have once again, been extremely high, completely covering many of the beaches coveted by the elephant seals for the birthing season. Unlike this time last year, though, our storms have been of the tropical rain-drenching kind from the south, mixing with some southward bound chilly northern fronts.

Maybe the change in weather pattern is the reason why there are currently fewer pregnant adult female elephant seals on shore this early in the birthing season than in years gone by. As a result, there have so far only been a handful of births.

In contrast, there seem to be many more large adult male elephant seals in the extreme heavy-weight class, who, so far, appear to be much more mellow toward each other than in previous years at this time. For the most part, they've hung up the do-not-disturb signs and have been spending much of their shore-time sleeping instead of engaging in their traditional bloody, dragged-out fights over territory.

For those who like the excitement of elephant seal fights, some sparring sub-adult males can still be spotted tussling away here and there.

The few remaining tan-to-gold colored youngsters are spending their time sleeping, half-heartedly participating in their mock fights, or moving as fast as their small bodies will allow out of the path of the amorous large males.

For more photos, click here.

First Elephant Seal Pup Born This Season

What an exciting event....the first pup of the 09-10 birthing season was born yesterday at the Piedras Blancas colony !
In the photo above, you can see that even a newborn has no problem scratching its itchy back !