Bulls begin to return

This big guy is the first adult bull to return to Piedras Blancas from the post-breeding migration. Hundreds of young seals and adult females are still on the beach, completing their molt.

He's restored some of his hefty blubber, after the rigorous breeding season fast. He may have gone 100 days without food during the breeding season. 

Males feed along the coast of Alaska. They swim north from Piedras Blancas, covering 60 to 75 miles a day, after the winter breeding season is over. They mostly forage for prey on the bottom.

Staying cool at the beach

Seals have already left the beach, leaving some open spaces. May is the busiest month, with the highest population of seals on the beach. As they complete their molt, they head back out into the ocean. The females, the embryo now developing, are on their long migration. They will return in January to have their pups.

The juveniles will return in September and October, for their fall haul-out rest. That's when this year's pups will return from their first migration, too.

This week,  sections of the north beach remain crowded, while the south beach has plenty of empty space.

North beach

South beach

Some subadult males have arrived. They will occupy the beach in the coming months, along with fully mature bulls.