Mainly Young Males

Even though some of the Fall Haul Out participants are still lounging around, the males of varying ages are the ones attracting the most attention with their almost constant dominance games.

All too soon, though, these younger males will be usurped by the giant adult males and the pregnant females longing to give birth.

Click here to see some of the antics of younger males captured for eternity.

With the weather acting oddly, it's going to be interesting to see if the elephant seal behavior is any different from last year when the females were extremely aggressive from the get-go. They were so aggressive that as far as I could tell, most males were unsuccessful in their mating attempts.

Click here to watch video of virile young males.

Fall Haul Out Almost Over

As the middle of November is now but a memory, so will soon this year's Fall Haul Out be as the shore time for these elephant seals draws to a close.

Despite the fact that the end of November is in sight, quite a few youngsters can still be seen lazing around some of the beaches as well as some young males and a few pregnant females.

Click here for photos of some of the remaining vacationers.

But, as the birthing/mating season approaches once again, the large adult males will start returning to lay claim to a piece of what each one hopes is an ideal spot on the beach for yet another season. Returning too, will the very pregnant females as they beach-hop from one beach to another trying to determine which beach will best meet their needs for birthing and nursing and the inevitable mating.

Click here for video of young males doing their thing.

Fall Haul-Out Picking up Speed

As we enter the second week of September, more newcomers of varying ages are starting to haul ashore to enjoy their turn on our beaches.

Click here to see more photos of our current visitors.

This fall, a good many of these elephant seals also seem to be unusually generous in 'decorating' our shallows and sandy beaches with their own brand of often brightly-colored fertilizer.

Engaging in struggling with seaweed at this time of year is also a favorite past-time of many young males. Experts have often wondered if elephant seals actually swallow the seaweed/kelp that they toss around. From my observations, it would seem as though they do. The process is often a long and laborious one as the elephant seals have no means to hold the long strands as they strive to break off a bite-size piece. Instead, they have to shake/toss the seaweed till a small piece is broken off. Then the broken off piece has to be carefully maneuvered into just the right position in the mouth so it can slide down the throat without causing the elephant seal to choke on it. To successfully facilitate this rather difficult process, the elephant seal often drinks large amounts of seawater to help in the actual swallowing.

Why elephant seals choose to eat seaweed/kelp is not clear. Maybe they do so for the same reason dogs eat grass...to aid in digestion.

Click here to watch video of young males struggling to swallow some seaweed. ( Some of the video has been slowed down to better show the action. )

As we proceed further into the Fall Haul-Out, more and more elephant seals will come ashore to get some R&R before heading out once again to feed before the birthing/mating season that will start sometime in December.

Youngsters Starting to Come Ashore

Unlike last year, as August draws to a close, almost all of the big male elephant seals have already set off in search of food.

Click here for photos of some of these big males as they went about their daily business before leaving in search of food.

And click here to see adult male elephant seals in their underwater environment.

So far only a few of the next group of 'vacationers' have ventured ashore. These first early-bird arrivals of the Fall Haul-Out are some of this year's weaners and youngsters, born 2-3 years ago.

Click here to see photos of these early arrivals.

Although some of these young elephants seals of both sexes are relaxing and sleeping, some of the more energetic puppy-like young males are already getting into dominance bouts of playful wrestling.

Click here for video of young males play-wrestling.

A few of the more adventuresome young males, on the other hand, like to test themselves by engaging slightly older male members of the group in challenges. Instead of being really aggressive, these older young males, however, tend to usually act amused and take it easy on these upstart youngsters.

Click here to see video of youngsters challenging slightly older elephant seals in a narrow inlet.

In the coming weeks, as the Fall Haul-Out gets into full swing, more and more youngsters will come ashore to relax and wrestle, and along with them, will also come some pregnant adult females and sub-adult males. ( The Fall Haul-Out usually lasts from September into November. )

Vibrissae AKA Whiskers

Not only are the whiskers or vibrissae on the elephant seal thought to act as natural sensors helping this marine mammmal to accurately gauge its distance from various things in its surroundings, but they also appear to enhance its amazingly sensitive ability to detect all sorts of vibrational waves created by movement both on land and in the sea.

Vibrissae, the plural form of vibrissa, comes from the Latin verb vibrare meaning to shake/vibrate.

Elephant seals have 3 sets of vibrissae/whiskers:
          1. mystacial ( on each side of the nose )
          2. rhinal ( on the upper bridge of the nose )
          3. supraorbital ( above the eyes )

These bristly yet sensitive whiskers, which are very dark/black on pups and youngsters, are thicker and longer than the other hairs on the elephant seal's body. They also seem to be the longest on the youngsters between the ages of 2 and 4 years old. Instead of being smooth like the body hairs, they are beaded with wavy bumps of repeating sequences of crests and troughs along their lengths and are supplied with blood and nerves via the muscles attaching them to the elephant seal's head. It appears as though the elephant seals can manipulate each whisker individually or as a group.

Scientists speculate that the wavy beaded profile of the vibrissae may be an adaptation that helps eseals when foraging in low visibility by allowing them to follow the change in water flow from the different hydrodynamic trails left by anything moving through the water.

From my observations, it would certainly appear that the elephant seal measures the exact proximity of its surroundings, regardless if the object is animate or inanimate, with the aid of these natural sensors, its vibrissae.

When startled or protesting, all of the elephant seal's vibrissae fairly bristle, with all of them literally standing on end.

The younger elephant seals from pups through the first 3 years are especially quick to raise their vibrissae in protest or submission along with their high-pitched vocal protests. Or maybe they're just alerting others to their presence both through physical means as well as auditory.

The rhinal vibrissae, a single hair on each side of the upper part of the nasal bridge, remind me of antennae. They're nearly always erect both on land and when the elephant seal swims along the surface. Maybe they're primarily used to warn the elephant seal as to what's in its vicinity.

The supraorbital vibrissae, the ones above the eyes, are grouped in 3 specific rows with 8 or 9 of these hairs above each eye. The row closest to the eye has 4 hairs in it, the middle one 3, and the top one 2. This triangular grouping may have something to do with fine-tuning or streamlining the elephant seal's tactile sensitivity of its vibrissae.

The supraorbital vibrissae appear to alert the elephant seal as to what's behind it.

The vibrissae on the older elephant seals tend to be lighter in color and shorter as well as often displaying many colors.

The mystacial vibrissae are usually pressed down close to the elephant seal's head when he/she calls out or talks. This downward positioning appears to be an aggressive signal since in surprise, protest or retreat, the vibrissae bristle vertically outward. This vertical positioning of the mystacial vibrissae is also apparent when one elephant seal lunges aggressively toward another. ( Maybe because in combat, the big males sometimes try to bite off each other's mystacial vibrissae. )

So, to sum this up, when the mystacial vibrissae are down, it appears to mean that the elephant seal is signalling that it's preparing for aggressive behavior. Whereas, when these whiskers are bristling outwards, it means the elephant seal in question is signalling submissive behavior.

When swimming along the surface, all 3 kinds of vibrissae are often extended, probably because the elephant seal is on high alert in preparation for whatever it might encounter.

Similarly, when swimming just below the surface, the vibrissae are often extended.

These super-sensitive vibrissae may even aid the elephant seal in determining if the vibes given off by any creature indicate aggression, fear or simply non-interference. They may also 'tell' the elephant seal if a nearby object is inanimate.

Click here to see vibrissae being used in different situations...the last picture probably being the most amazing.

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.