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.

Male Elephant Seals Getting Antsy

As the birthing season continues, and more and more suckling pups can be found on the diminished beaches despite the harsh winter storms and devastating high tides, the males are getting more and more eager to mate.

Apart from periodically viciously chasing unwanted male challengers off the portion of the beach they call theirs, the male elephant seals can usually be seen lying on the beaches preserving their strength in preparation for the task of mating with as many females as possible.

In the meantime, the young pups are suckling hard and often, growing fat in the process on their way to becoming weaned pups AKA weaners. ( So far, there are only a handful of weaned pups, born early on in the birthing season in December.)

To add to the mix, the females continue their bickering over space and pups and try to keep ardent males at bay till they come into heat starting a few days before the end of their nursing period of about 28 days.

Click here to see more photos.