Piedras Blancas ~ Elephant Seals
How do you know you have enough pictures of elephant seals? You decide! When you get tired of looking, you'll stop! These are all females. The males are out to sea. It's molting season as you can tell from these photos. Point to a small picture to see a larger image.
Elephant seals are fascinating. To find out more, click on the following links:
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February 2008
According to an article published in the Los Angeles Times on February 4, 2008, there were an extimated 16,000 elephant seals at the Piedras Blancas Rookery this year.
Each year the elephant seals return to this rocky coastline near San Simeon, CA to breed and give birth.
Dominant males arrive in December to claim harems of up to 50 females.
Females arrive in mid-January pregnant and ready to give birth to pups weighing up to 60 pounds. The females devote the first month to nursing the newborn pups which grow to 240 pounds during that time.
After the pups are weaned, the females mate toward the end of February and return to the ocean.
As you can see, this is quite a site to behold!
