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.

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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.

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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.

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Weaners on the Move

The weaned pups, AKA weaners, are definitely in the majority on the local elephant seal beaches as March passes St. Patty's Day and the First Day of Spring.

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Even though you might see plenty of weaners sleeping away their hours preserving precious stores of mom's fatty milk, you will also see many of these eager and curious youthful elephant seals bouncing around the beaches interacting with one another and honing their water skills in tide pools, creeks and the shallows. They are very social and very alert as they explore everything around them, constantly verbally communicating and often staring curiously at passers-by, human or otherwise.

Click here to see video of weaner activity on land.

Click here to see weaner activity in the water.

Starting to join these social groups of weaners are the first of the tan-colored yearlings as well as two-and three-year-olds. Even quite a few of the brown-to-tan colored adult females have ventured ashore after having replenished the weight lost during birthing, nursing, and mating.

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From late March through June, large groups of youngsters and adult females will be populating the beaches of Elephant Seal Land to get some R and R during their month long stay, with some of them looking rather ragged as they endure the molting process.

The molting that elephant seals experience on a yearly basis is known as a catastrophic molt because they completely shed their old fur once their new gray one becomes ready for use.

August at the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Colony

Most of the adult male elephant seals have completed their catastrophic molt, and many have already 'set sail' for their feeding grounds in order to gain the necessary bulk for their winter stay of about 3 months starting in December.

Early though it is, a few weaners and yearlings have already come ashore for their fall haulout, joining the remaining adult males.

As we progress toward September, more and more youngsters as well as adult females and young males will come ashore to rest for about a month before setting off to feed again.

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Catastrophic Molt

Prime beach space is beginning to be hard to find as more and more large elephant seals work their way up onto the beaches to join the already present weaners. These weaners, who are further honing their swimming, diving, and foraging skills now have to try to stay out of the way of the older elephant seals as hierarchy rules.

Over the last couple of weeks both adult female elephant seals as well as juvenile males ( juvenile male = 1-4 years old ) and juvenile females ( juvenile female = 1-2 years old ) have been crowding onto the beaches of central California to begin their annual catastrophic molt. ( The sub-adult males and adult males will come a little later on for their turn.)

What is a catastrophic molt ? Over a period of many months, elephant seal fur changes color from a gray to dark brown to a lighter brownish hue or even a pale tan.

Maybe this change in fur pigment indicates that the fur becomes less oily over time causing the elephant seal to shed its fur and attached skin about once a year. Also, maybe because the elephant seal spends so much of its life in the salty ocean water, its fur simply has to be replenished as the salts dry it out. Another factor might be that as the elephant seal expands both in length and in girth, it needs to shed its outer layer much like a snake does.

The fur and skin peel off in both larger and smaller pieces revealing the fresh new layer of gray fur below. ( See extra photos.)

During the month this molt takes to complete, scientists believe the molting elephant seals eat nothing even though they often enter the ocean during this period.

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Struggling to Survive

This was a long week of furious storms relentlessly pummeling the central California coast with heavy rain squalls, strong gusting winds, and huge waves.
This lengthy stretch of bad weather was really hard on all the elephant seals but the pups were the hardest hit as they were really put to the test to survive not only the elements but also the over-crowded diminishing beach space.

Confronted by the rushing waters from the drainage pipes and the high tides, the pups became confused and tended to panic as they got separated from their moms. It was heart-breaking watching them frantically trying to negotiate the swift-flowing foamy streams of run-off and sea water to get re-united with their frenzied moms. How many pups survived this stormy week is still unknown.

At least this weekend should be a little calmer at the elephant seal colony at Piedras Blancas as the storms have taken a couple of days off before their expected return on Monday.

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