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.

Still Mainly Females

Even though June is underway, many of the continually bickering females are still present and are sticking firmly to our local beaches much like last year at this time.

Click here for female photos.

If you look carefully, you might notice that some of these females sport brightly colored red, yellow, or green tail-flipper tags from the Channel Islands further down the coast indicating that these specific females were tagged as weaners in that area. ( The white tags indicate they were tagged here at the Piedras Blancas colony. )

These pregnant adult females are apparently in no rush to leave for their next session of feeding. Instead, they're choosing to mingle and squabble within the shore-based feminine masses. Amongst these females, quite a few of them are displaying beginning signs of eye infections as well as other sores or infections.


Mouth Cyst on Female

Another interesting aside is that these females are occupying pocket beaches that in the birthing/mating season are traditionally taken over by the males.


Young Male Opponents

Click here to see young males in action on land and in the water.

The few younger males that have so far dared to venture to our shores at this time of year have basically two choices if they don't want to face these rather ferocious females. They can remain bottling off-shore or find small beaches that are unoccupied where they can go about their youthful male activities such as mock-fighting.

Click here to see video displaying fancy male moves along with a great variety of vocalizations.

Adult Female Bonding

As May passes the mid-way mark, many of the adult females that have been quietly resting and bonding with other female beach-goers on their chosen female-only central California beaches have recently picked up the pace of their usual bickering and jostling.

Since resuming their argumentative tactics, I've been afforded numerous opportunities to capture many close-up photos immortalizing the amazing mouth and tongue actions of these feisty females.
Click here for these fascinating photos.

Now that most of the females have already shed their old and dried-out brown-colored fur, it seems as though the time is fast approaching for them to go fishing sporting their brand new sleek gray fur. Maybe their aggressive behavior signals that they're psyching themselves up in preparation for the tough hunting times in their immediate future.

Click here for photos of their current behavior.

If the scientists are correct, then all of these masses of adult females are pregnant once again, and the fetuses that they carry will now rapidly start to grow as the females get their fill of plenty of good seafood in their Pacific hunting grounds.

Even though scientists are of the belief that elephant seals don't eat when they come to the central coast of California, the strong fishy smell emanating from them is often very prevalent when they first come ashore. Judging by this fishy smell and my observations of the searching/hunting behavior elephant seals exhibit in the shallow coastal waters coupled with watching them snack on tide-pool inhabitants as well as seaweed strongly suggests to me that elephant seals do indeed eat, at least a little, while here.

Click here for video of female action.

As the females are readying themselves to 'push off', the sub-adult males are starting to show up but are remaining offshore well away from the nipping, feisty females. Instead of trying to share the beach with these aggressive females, they're choosing to stay a little ways out as they relax and keep track of who's approaching by doing their bottling maneuvers. ( Bottling is floating and keeping their noses pointing skyward. )

Masses of Rag-Tag Elephant Seals Occupy Central Coast Beaches

With most of this year's weaners having left in search of much yearned-for food, hundreds, maybe even thousands of brown-furred molting elephant seals of varying ages are swarming to their favorite beaches on the central coast of California. In fact, there seem to be many more elephant seals currently occupying these beaches than during the recently completed birthing/mating season.

Click here for photos of some of the current inhabitants.

The now relatively calm adult females, pregnant again, are trying to get some rest among the masses of brown bodies as they wait for the old fur to peel off and the new gray one to take its place as they undergo their catastrophic molt. The sexually immature females, on the other hand, can be seen hurriedly trying to stay out of the way of the young male elephant seals on the move.

Many of these young males from a couple of years old up to the youngest sub-adults, whose noses are starting to lengthen, are acting out their dominance fighting rituals both on land and in water.

Click here to see video of rock 'n' roll play-fighting.

Many of the 2- and 3-year-old youngsters are exhibiting what is known as scabby molt. This is not a true molt, but is believed to be a skin disease that afflicts some youngsters. On these elephant seals, it is not uncommon to see pink skin or even bleeding skin as the fur comes off.

Click here to watch video of graceful juveniles as they enjoy some carefree water time.

The only groups absent at this time are the older sub-adult males and the adult males. Some of the younger sub-adult males have started to come ashore, but the older ones will come in during May and June. Then in July and August, it’ll be turn for the adult males.

It is believed that each of the elephant seals coming here during this time will spend about one month ashore before heading back out to feed again.