Females, young seals gradually leave the beach
An other-worldly moan rises from the beach, warbling
on the crisp wind. It’s a female elephant seal at Piedras Blancas. If it
weren’t such a bright sunny day, I’d be creeped out.
Female seals usually bark, unlike the belching bellow of
the males. But they are capable of variations on their vocal theme. Those
yodels must mean something to them, as yet undeciphered by their human
observers.
The crowd disperses
Most seals have vacated the south beach, but the seals
still crowd the north end of the viewpoint. The adult females and juveniles of
both sexes who are concluding their molt take little notice, but adult bulls are
arriving, one by one. Soon they will dominate the beach.
It’s the usual summer transition. Time for the
juveniles to return to the ocean for a few months. They’ll return in the fall
for a few weeks rest, then spend the winter at sea, leaving the beach to the
breeding seals.
Pregnant females
The females came into heat as they stopped nursing
last season’s pups. They mated and the next pup got started, but in a process
called delayed implantation, the embryo stopped developing after a few cell
divisions. The females returned to the ocean for their annual short migration,
from February or so to May.
That gives them a chance to regain some of the blubber
they lost while nursing their pups. They stay on the beach with their pups
during the birth and breeding season, not eating. They lose about a third of
their body weight.
Adult females leave to spend the next seven months
feeding at sea. They are pregnant with the next generation, and will return in
winter to give birth.
Return of the bulls
Bulls are returning. It’s their turn to have the beach
to themselves in July and August, while they molt their skin. The old brown and
tan skin peels off in chunks, revealing the new skin underneath. New hairs are
just beginning to grow, making the skin gray. As the hair grows, the color
becomes brown.
The upper layer of skin is new, but old scars remain.
The adult bulls are the ones with the trunk-like nose
that gives them their name. The nose, technically proboscis, and the chest
shield, begin growing at puberty, when the seal is about five years old. They grow
throughout the seal’s life, so chest shield and nose size are relative
indicators of age.
Bulls don’t fight much during the summer. They may bellow
at each other occasionally, but flipping sand is about the most activity on the
beach in June. It’s a good time for summer visitors to observe them at rest.
Elephant Seal Visitor Center
Friends of the Elephant Seal celebrates the grand
opening of its new, expanded visitor center in Cavalier Plaza, 250 San Simeon
Avenue in San Simeon on July 16. Starting at 11 am, they’ll have a program of research and educational
presentations, children’s story time, book signings, a Seal Science exhibit,
new exhibits on how blubber keeps seals warm, seal anatomy, diet, and local
predators. Guides will be available to answer questions. State Parks staff will
lead a guided walk along the Boucher Trail, north of the viewpoint, which overlooks
several more elephant seal beaches.
The center is open for
visitors daily 10 am-4 pm. https://elephantseal.org/july16/
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