Plenty of seals

 Young seals take a break

The juvenile seal Haul-Out continues in October. More seals arrive every day. They don’t have the eponymous (look it up) trunk-like nose, but some have other markings. They are all elephant seals, on their way to maturity.

R&R

Every young seal that finds its way to the beach is a success story. Each one has so far conquered the challenges of learning to hunt food in the dark, cold ocean at 1,000 feet and deeper. They have evaded their predators, swimming back to the surface only briefly, through the “lightscape of fear,” to catch a two-minute breath and them dive down again. Rising to the surface though the range of their white shark and orca predators is the most dangerous time for them.

The seals on the beach in October range from last year’s pups, less than a year old, to about six years old. The older males show signs of that elephant trunk staring to develop.

They are adjusting their migratory schedule. As they mature, they will return to the beach in December and January, for the breeding season. As juveniles, they avoid the hectic threats of that season by hauling out in the autumn months.

Local heroes

The Piedras Blancas site is featured in Smithsonian magazine. This beach is an unusual success story at the intersection of humans and wildlife. Typically, when wildlife crosses human paths, the wildlife loses out, often catastrophically. In this case, the collaboration of state and local agencies and passionate local residents made it work.

Instead of carnage, the site has become a tourist attraction and an informal education center for ocean science. By training and managing volunteer docents, Friends of the Elephant Seal plays a significant role in keeping seals and visitors safe from each other.

At Piedras Blancas, that’s made simpler by the landscape of bluffs overlooking the beach. The boardwalks keep visitors safe while providing unlimited viewing.

During the breeding season, it’s more complicated. Subdominant bulls, chased off the breeding beaches, come to San Simeon Cove to heal their wounds. FES has a special program to help visitors there navigate around the bulls.

It can be a delicate dance, but visitors come to the beach because they love the ocean. They are revived and renewed. With FES guides providing informal education about these amazing animals, both sides can safely coexist.

Speakers Bureau

Friends of the Elephant Seal offers presentations to local organizations in SLO County. Trained speakers have given presentations to more than 100 clubs and organizations, almost 3,000 persons in recent years, despite the Covid hiatus.

Speakers are fully self-contained and travel with all the audio and visual equipment needed to give their presentation to any age group and size of audience.

The Speakers Bureau has slide and video presentations introducing the Piedras Blancas rookery as well as each of the seasons in the seals’ annual cycle. The Birthing and Breeding presentations are appropriate now, since that season begins in December.

Speakers Bureau presentations are appropriate for civic clubs, schools, libraries, associations, churches, charitable organizations and other common interest groups. There is no charge to the group for this educational service.

To arrange a speaker, call the FES office, (805) 924-1628 or request a speaker through the website. The Speaker’s Bureau Coordinator will respond and set up a date.