February 2016 - Año Nuevo, California
Every winter elephant seals come up onto the beach to give birth and mate. We came during the second half of the season, when the pups have already been born and mating for next year is going on. Elephant seals are bizarre looking, absolutely enormous, and look very uncomfortable on land. They move by dragging themselves around like slugs, but mostly just lay around.
Every winter elephant seals come up onto the beach to give birth and mate. We came during the second half of the season, when the pups have already been born and mating for next year is going on. Elephant seals are bizarre looking, absolutely enormous, and look very uncomfortable on land. They move by dragging themselves around like slugs, but mostly just lay around.
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| Half elephant half seal half slug. Our first good look at an elephant seal, relaxing in the brush. | A mostly female cluster of seals hanging out together | It's hard work getting out of the water, you gotta take a breather |
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| The big guy is very slowly chasing after the smaller one | A bunch of females with their little pups | Some flipping and flopping in the water |
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| Even elephant seals are adorable as babies | ||
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| Sometimes the noses fall into their mouths when they are making their grunting noises | An attempt at mating | |
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| Another clump of seals on a different part of the beach | ||
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| Another attempt at mating | FIGHT! | |
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| The victor drives the competition back into the ocean | She tried throwing dirt up on him, but couldn't keep him off | A little pup flipping dirt up on himself |
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| Looks like Sunday afternoon | ||
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| The beach littered with elephant seals | Coyote tracks in the sand | |
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| A squadron of pelicans flying overhead | A gopher digging his hole right in the middle of the trail | |
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| A fairly uninteresting bird (sparrow) in a beautiful backdrop. It was pretty sounding too. | A spotted towhee | Hiking past some classic California coast on the way out |