Elephant Seals of California

The Elephant Seal of California was nearly wiped out due to uncontrolled hunting and commercial harvesting. Today they are VERY protected. The seals have made an extraordinary recovery. There are literally thousands now. The bulls are very easily distinguishable from the females by the huge appendage on their face.

Everyone has seen the bloody fights between bulls on National Geographic or Animal Planet. I never saw anything like that here. The fights were brief and to the point. Males shared the females and the beach. I never witnessed the BEACH MASTER brawls that I watched on TV.

The bulls seemed more interested in the girls than the fights. I never saw a dead baby or injured seal. It may have been the luck of the draw or maybe the bulls don't really fight as savagely or as often in this area.

This bull has obviously fallen in love with this little number. The females are much smaller than the bulls.

Another thing I observed was the fact that females feed any youngster that wants a drink! I always thought the females would reject a baby that wasn't theirs. This wasn't true in this colony.

These pups took turns at the nipple while mom was out like a light!

The males are definitely the stars of the show. They are huge!

As they arrive, they make their presence know. This is their classic stance, bellowing as loud as a car horn. This alerts other bulls that they are here to stay. They apparently know each other by sight and sound. This limits the need for fighting every bull that comes ashore. The younger bulls are chased away immediately.

The neighborhood looks something like this!

This bull is sizing up the competition.

The seascapes are beautiful. The vistas are in every direction for as far as the eye can see.

These two fat females look as though they has a lot of gossiping to catch up on. I never saw two females fight.

All along the shore there were beautiful flowers with humming birds taking advantage of the nectar on nearly every bush. Here are some examples.

Ground squirrels were everywhere. They practically ran over your feet. They obviously had no fear of humans.

The scenery was great. The seals were fantastic to watch. Unfortunately I feel ill on this trip and had to cut it short. I am, however, back in the saddle and looking towards my next adventure.

Until then keep smiling and remember "on this beach, size really does matter".