Rules of Engagement

For the most part, adult male elephant seals appear quite mellow, appearing to sleep away much of their shore-time. However, be assured that these giants are fully aware of what's going on in their vicinity and can react quite fast when needs be.

Male elephant seals have very definitive rules of engagement. They challenge vocally. They toss and twirl their heads and trunks for intimidation. They advance. They stare their opponent down. They lunge and strike. Most challenges, though, are short-lived and end when one backs away.

Click here for more land-based action photos.

If an elephant seal wants another one to move, he may 'tell' him to move, or lunge forward and butt him with his head or trunk. If neither of these attempts succeeds, he will resort to biting the other. If even this physical encouragement fails, a verbal and/or physical exchange will quickly erupt and continue until one of them concedes.

Click here for more water-based action photos.

Currently, as the end of July nears, groups of these large marine mammals, each of about 100 individuals, can be seen on a couple of the beaches at the Piedras Blancas colony on the central California coast. You can even see some of the more active individuals exchanging blows in the shallows or on land as dominance within the group is being determined, or a member from another group is being challenged.

Click here to see some exciting slo-mo video of dominance struggles in the shallows.

If you are lucky, you can even see some of these giants as they confront one another under water.

Click here to see more underwater action photos.

The Big Fellas Are Back

With just about all the females off hunting for food, older males are now venturing ashore on some of the beaches of the Piedras Blancas elephant seal colony.

Some of these large marine mammals are spending their days sleeping and resting while others are challenging rivals to dominance bouts both on land as well as in the shallows. Still others can be seen with their old brown fur beginning to peel off as it gets replaced by a spanking new gray one lying underneath the dried out brownish one.

Click here for photos of the current visitors.

The number of adult male elephant seals that are currently showing up on these beaches falls way short of the number of adult females that recently filled many of the beaches. In fact, there are only a few groups of adult males on only a few beaches.

Click here for video showing some group male action.

Oftentimes, hot air can be seen escaping the big mouths of the newly arrived males as they open wide to roar out a challenge to all and sundry.

Click here for some action video of roaring big males.

Keys to Successful Elephant Seal Mating

Despite their fierce reputation, elephant seal males are, for the most part, quite peaceable except for when it comes to territorial rights and mating.

Click here for recent photos of the current residents at Elephant Seal Land.

Male elephant seal dominance fighting is part of their disposition, and, for the most part, these battles are fought without rancor.

Prior to this birthing/mating season, I've hardly ever seen a truly angry male elephant seal. This year, however, tolerance and patience seem to have been somewhat short on a few occasions.

Click here for video of a some crabby males

Also, since the mating season is in full swing, I thought it a good idea to try to describe with words, photos, and videos what actually leads up to a successful union.

Click here for photos of mating.

Alpha Male or Beachmaster is the term given to the dominant male that 'owns' a certain segment of the beach with all its resident females, pups and weaners. This time of year is an extremely busy one for these large males as they make valiant attempts to mate with ALL of the females of their so-called harem. In between convincing their females to mate, these huge males can be seen galloping madly across the beach staunchly defending 'theirs' from any and all would-be intruding lovers.

Below are some tongue-in-cheek tips that might be handed down from father to son throughout the realms of Elephant Seals.

Advice for a Would-Be Lover

1. Sneak ashore. Hide amongst the females and pups. Don’t draw attention to yourself.

2. You may have to go ashore behind the back of the alpha. Use waves, rocks and other seals as cover.

3. Try to find a quiet female. ( Almost impossible )

4. Quickly try to mount when opportunity arises….but keep and eye and ear open for an irate advancing alpha. Always be prepared to flee. Know where your quickest path back out to sea lies.

5. Wait for alpha to get tired from exertion, then make your move.

Advice for the Alpha Male

1. Keep other males away by patrolling waters and chasing amorous intruders off beach.

2. Allow some large males on peripheries to chase off other would-be lovers. ( Saves your time and energy. )

3. Choose a compliant female. Stay away from feisty females who bite and struggle fiercely to escape. Also watch out for females that gang up on you.

4. Don’t get interrupted by other advancing males.

5. Herd escaping females back to shore.


Click here for mating videos.

Elephant Seal Land Mid-December

Feisty youngsters will nearly always stand up for their rights even if it means going up against the biggest of the big.

Even though the Fall Haul-Out should be over, there are still many very active and captivating youngsters remaining on varying beaches.

Click here for more photos of youngsters in action.

Even though we're half-way through December, not too many of the 'good olde BIG BOYS' have shown up to claim California winter territory yet. Also, what's even more surprising is the lack of females. In fact, I've only observed a good amount of the fair sex on one beach....a beach that's not usually a birthing beach !

Click here for photos of some of the BIG BOYS.

Click here for video of the only 'Beach Chase' I've seen so far this season.

The younger adult males are busy participating in their preliminary bouts, most of which are lacking in tenacity at this point.

Click here for video of some of the yonger adult males in action.

Maybe the changes in coming ashore can be attributed to good fishing times, that we've been having a lot of off-shore winds and currents, or, just maybe, the elephant seals want to keep everyone in suspense ! Who knows ?

Click here for other photos from the past couple of weeks.

NEWS FLASH....the first pup of this birthing season was born a couple of days ago...probably Thursday, December 15th on one of the pocket beaches. A beach that so far only has 3-5 pregnant females on it. Maybe because this young mother is basically surrounded by males of all ages instead of being in a group of females, she is acting extremely anxious and is aggressively keeping all other elephant seals well away from her newborn baby girl. ( I have been alerted to the fact that a few other pups have been recently born on a couple of the larger beaches. )

Click here for photos of the newborn girl.

Click here for video action of pup and mom.