The Start of the Fall Haul-Out

As almost all the big adult male elephant seals have left to fortify their strength and body weight in preparation for the up-coming December territorial fights, the beaches along the central coast of California are currently occupied by only a few dozen mainly tan-furred youngsters doing their thing.

As September heads towards October in this Fall Haul-Out season, however, more and more elephant seals in the younger age brackets will be looking to enjoy spending some quality shore-time on these usually noisy and busy beaches.

Adding to the mix of weaners and yearlings as we go through October, energy-filled ‘teenage’ males will be charging ashore delighting onlookers with their rock-’n’-roll style fights. In addition, alongside these combative youngsters, a few pregnant young females will also be trying to get some shore-rest on the ‘quiet side of town’ away from the boisterous young males.


Click here see video of a young elephant seal wrestling seaweed.

Click here to see more photos.

Time for the Yearlings

With only a couple of large male elephant seals still on the beach, the emphasis now is on this year's weaners and two- and three-year olds as they hustle ashore to begin their Fall Haul-Out rituals.

Like the older elephant seals, they joust, albeit with less ferocity, disturb each other for a variety of reasons, sleep, and swim in the shallows.

When the older elephant seals come shore, they usually spend quite a bit of time in deep sleep. The younger ones, however, seem to be more filled with vim and vigor !

To see more photos, click here.

To visit my elephant seal website, click here.

To see elephant seal fight videos on YouTube, click here.