Beachmasters dominate their domain

 Get a close-up look at the big bulls

August is a good time to look closely at elephant seal bulls at Piedras Blancas. They have conveniently placed themselves near the visitor entrance at the north end of the parking lot.

A few juveniles are early arrivals for the Fall Haul-Out, their annual rest before the adults take over the beach for winter breeding season.

The smallest are the Young of the Year, last winter’s pups. Those who have survived return to the beach from their first migration. Only about half survive, so every young seal who is on the beach has already passed a major hurdle on the way to adulthood. They still look perfect, their skin smooth and unscarred.

Fine points of dominance

Only males grow the trunk-like nose, technically proboscis. It starts growing when the seal is about five years old, and continues throughout its life. Nose size is a relative indicator of age.

The other visible indicator is the chest shield, the pink skin on that blubbery chest. It starts as a roughness or puckering of the skin and grows along with the nose. Fully mature bulls have a chest shield that is level with their eyes. Now, that’s a beachmaster!

The adult bulls will leave the beach soon, to continue feeding and gaining blubber. They need to be at their physical peak for the breeding season. They will return in November and December for the duration, about 100 days.

Countershading

Several visitors this week asked about the light-colored bellies on seals sleeping on their backs. It’s a common ocean camouflage. Predators swimming below them see the light belly blending with the bright surface above. Those swimming above the seal see the dark back blending into the dark depths.

Poop

Several recent visitors were vitally interested in elephant seal poop. Seals rarely poop on the beach – thank goodness, we wouldn’t be standing mere feet above them if they did! The smell would be overwhelming.

As the seals leave their foraging grounds up north to return to the beach, they eat only prey that happens into their path. They poop out most of what they’ve digested along the way. What’s left is the remains of red blood cells being recycled during that fast. The result is bright orange liquid poop.

It's not an established fact, but I’ve occasionally observed seals poop out an orange cloud just before they surf out onto the sand. Thank you!

Young seals

Some of the small seals are juveniles, two or three years old. Young males and females look very much alike. Around age five, males begin growing that nose, and getting bigger than females.

They are the early arrivals for the Fall Haul-Out, six weeks or so of rest. The young seals migrate along the same routes as their elders, although they don’t go as far as the other adults until their third or fourth migration.

They are diving and feeding almost constantly, more than 20 hours a day.

They arrive and depart individually, so young seals will be on the beach through the end of November, and perhaps beyond.

https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/environment/article264691139.html