We drove out after the cyclone bomb storm that hit California last night. Highway 1 was open, sky clearing occasionally, showing sun and blue sky, then clouding up again.
CalTrans closed the highway at the elephant seal parking lot. The parking lot, deeply potholed, was about a third full, more than I’d expected to find on the morning after such a violent storm.
Despite the weather, visitors were there.
At the north end, the entire beach was washed away, inundated by high tide and waves.
A few pups continued to struggle, getting washed out by waves, then taking the respite between sets to make their way up the beach. Frantic mothers were unable to rescue their pups. Terrible to watch.
Much of the south beach was washed away. The raised area I think of as the maternity ward was overwhelmed by wave action.
A few pups near the drainpipe called for help, no mothers within range to help.
The few pups remaining in the central part of the beach sought refuge close to the bluff, but waves tossed them even there.
The high ground was in the dunes. These seals huddled together.
One newborn was tangled in kelp, unable to free himself. Mothers fretted helplessly.
Check up on the seals in the live webcam, https://elephantseal.org/live-view/
A terrible day. How this loss of pups will affect the population remain to be seen. Normally, mothers nurse for a month, lose about a third of their body weight, come into estrus, mate, and next year's pup gets started. Mothers who have lost their pups msy leve the beach without mating. Whether they will come into estrus and find mates on other beaches isn't known.
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