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.
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