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Northern Elephant Seals


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#1 Ted

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Posted 14 January 2023 - 06:57 PM

Part 2 is now posted below.
Part 3 is now posted below.
Part 4, the final part, is now posted below.

Much like the popular reports by Ski3pin, I will be doing this report in several parts. The main reason for this is one part may be something people do not want to see, so I want it to be separate from the whole report so that people can skip it. Nature can be cruel and we witnessed an event that was difficult for us and even for some of the highly experienced docents.
PART1 – The inaugural visit.
The Northern Elephant Seal was hunted nearly to extinction in the 1800s. The population has made a comeback and there are now several locations along the California coast where you can observe them. One of those is the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Viewing Site just north of San Simeon and the Hearst castle. Elephant Seals spend most of their lives at sea but there are three times of the year that they do spend time on shore. In late April and early May the females and juvenile males come ashore to molt. In late October and early November there is the juvenile haul-out. And in January the females come ashore to give birth and the bull males arrive to mate with the females. In November we visited the viewing site during the haul-out as part of a coastal trip. We decided to return in January for a longer visit to see the pups and maybe see the bulls fighting over their harems.
For both trips we camped at the Hearst San Simeon State Park. There are two main campgrounds. The upper one has only vault toilets and costs less. The lower has flush toilets, solar heated showers, and costs more. There is also a group site limited to tents only between the lower campground and highway. The upper campground has views of the surrounding hills and some sites have limited ocean views. The lower campground has no views and some highway road noise but you can walk along the creek under the highway bridge to access a large beach. On our second trip we camped in the lower campground. The turnaround point shown below will be referenced in Part 4.

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It is only about a five mile drive to the viewing area from camp. Hearst Castle is also along the way if you wish to visit it. Just south of the campground is Cambria, a small coastal town with many eateries and shops for visitors. Gas on the coast is expensive, so fill up in the bigger cities before hitting this location.
On our November trip we walked along the beach across from the campground. The highway is raised at the back of the beach for the bridge. It is a nice size beach with some dunes. It becomes narrower at the north end with short cliffs covered in ice plant and a couple of custom homes on top. I do not have photos of this but mention it because there will be photos of it from our January trip that reference these points. Mrs. Ted did take pics of the driftwood structures, though. And there were was a majestic Blue Heron hanging around.

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The Elephant Seal visiting site has two parking lots. There is a boardwalk between the two lots and one to the south of the south lot. These access the beaches with the most Elephant Seals. There is also a trail from the north lot that follows the coast north. There are several other beaches along it with Elephant Seals. The trail takes you by the light house. There are volunteer docents at the viewing area to answer your questions. Many of them are also bird watchers as there are lots to see here.

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The elephant seals gathered on the beach at this time are all females and juvenile males. There is not much activity at this time, though some of the males may practice fighting for their adult days. There were even some very young seals in the group.

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They are graceful in the water, but moving on land can be exhausting.

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On the trail you get a great view of the lighthouse and offshore rocks. The sign says the whales swimming north in April often pass between those rocks and the shore. Sounds like a good reason to return in April. Note how calm the ocean is around the rocks.

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Our Tiger is an uncommon RV and gets lots of attention. Many people ask us about it and take photos. But when a European world expedition rig parks nearby, we are just another vehicle lost in the crowd.

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#2 Casa Escarlata Robles Too

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Posted 14 January 2023 - 07:52 PM

Thanks Ted.That campground is one of our most visited.

Our first trip with the Bobcat was there.We had a spot in the lower camp,

the upper camp was closed at that time.

All trips after that first have been to the upper site.

We like the upper site with all then great views and then quietness

except when the surf is high then you get to hear the ocean.

The seals have always been a great stop.

Frank


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#3 Ted

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Posted 15 January 2023 - 02:55 AM

PART2 – Return to San Simeon

 

The first two days of our January trip were cloudy with some rain showers. There were now many more seals on the beach. In this photo there are seven mothers with pups, two bulls, and a couple of lone females.

 

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Sub adult males are part of the crowd. Not big enough yet to take on a bull, but still preparing for that day.

 

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Mothers do not eat while the nurse the babies for 28 days. During that time they do not teach the pups to swim or hunt for food. The only bonding they do is by their calls to each other. On approximately the 28th day the mother returns to the ocean, leaving the pup to fend for itself. It is a hard life for the pups and only 50% live to their 1st birthday.

 

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Besides the moms and pups calling to each other, the other sound on the beach is the bulls bellowing. I was hoping to get photos of two bulls fighting over a harem, but never saw any. Occasionally one bull would challenge another and the challenged bull would pull up and roar away and that was all it took. The challenger knew he picked the wrong guy to fight and immediately backed away. The docents said this was common, with some challengers recognizing the bulls by their bellowing and knowing not to challenge them.

 

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Other than that, life on the beach was mostly laid back.

 

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Many pups were suckling. They are about 75 pounds when born and 300 pounds 28 days later when mom goes back to sea. This last one seems to be saying, “No pictures, please."

 

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With the wet weather the waves were now higher. The off shore rocks that had calm water around them in November were now being hit by the waves, creating impressive splashes of water as high as the rock.

 

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I mentioned many of the docents are bird watchers. We understood why. Many different birds were around.

 

A Great Egret.

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Snowy Egrets.

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Snowy Plovers with Black Turnstones 

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A Black Oystercatcher.

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Long Billed Curlew.

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Brandt's Cormorants.

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Female Buffleheads.

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And it is the coast, so of course seagulls and brown pelicans (not pictured) were everywhere.


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#4 Wandering Sagebrush

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Posted 15 January 2023 - 04:05 AM

Looks like the Ted’s had a wonderful trip!  Thanks for letting us tag along!


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#5 Ted

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Posted 15 January 2023 - 06:30 PM

PART 3 – Nature’s Fury
WARNING: This section depicts the effects of a storm and high surf on the rookery. You may wish to skip it.
Wednesday night there was quite a storm. Our campsite was well protected but still our Tiger rocked in the wind and rain beat against it. It was high tide as we drove to the viewing site. There were high surf warnings up for most of the California coast. We watched huge surf beating against the shore. Beaches we had been driving by were covered by the waves. We were anxious about what we would find at the Elephant Seal rookery. The highway is close to the ocean as it goes along the viewing area. It is raised up on a rock berm, and the beach the Elephants Seals haul out on goes up to the berm. As we approached the viewing area we could see that the waves were coming up over parts of the beach all the way to the rock berm.
As we approached the viewing area we saw barricades blocking the highway just beyond the entry to the parking area. The highway was closed north of there due to washouts and flooding. As we parked we saw a splash from the surf right in front of our truck. Later a docent commented that he also saw a splash from the surf at the parking lot, something he had never seen before. The first thing we noticed as we exited our vehicle was the sound of mothers and pups calling out for each other. You could hear them over the sound of the high surf. The high surf created splashes against the off shore rocks that dwarfed the ones from the days before.

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We went first to the northern boardwalk. The beach along here is narrow along the boardwalk but then widens beyond it. Not all the waves completely covered the beach. As is typical, series of large waves happen every few minutes and then the surf is more normal. When the series of large waves would come in, they would wash the pups and debris such as small logs and kelp up against the rock berm, then drag them all down the beach as the wave withdraws. The pups do not have the layer of fat that helps them float and stay warm yet. Some of the pups were lucky and still on the beach when the series of large waves ended. They were exhausted from the experience and struggled to drag themselves back up to higher spots on the beach. You could see the noses of other pups trying to swim in the surf. A few minutes later another series of large waves would come in, repeating the whole scene.
The first photo below was taken in between large waves. A lone pup deposited with debris struggles on the beach. Three others are barely visible huddled against the rocks with nowhere else to go. The second photo shows the next wave as it covers all of them.

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A pup escapes the waves but has no energy left to climb up the beach.

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Another escapes the waves and struggles past debris seeking safety among a group of seals.

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A mother seems to be trying to shield her pup from the waves.

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Further down the southern beach it is wider and the waves did not reach all the way to the berm. But they did wash into the seals upsetting them. The mothers and pups calling for each other created quite a cacophony.

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We moved to the northern boardwalk where there were fewer seals, but the scene was just as chaotic. The following photos are stills taken from a movie. The rock seen here, about ten feet tall, had three pups trying to get as high up as they could when these waves rolled in, completely covering the rock. We did not see the pups after the waves receded.

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We spoke with a docent that came on his day off to see what was happening here. He stated this was the largest storm and surf he had seen during his 15 years of doing this. He told us that at times like this Great White sharks and Orcas will gather off shore. He could not keep watching. We also returned to our vehicle. We would wait for the tide to drop and return to check on the colony once the worst had passed.

After a couple of hours the tide was dropping and the surf no longer covered the entire beach. We were encouraged by the number of pups we were seeing. But surviving the surf was only the start for the pups. Many were washed up or down the beach, separating them from their mothers. Elephant Seals only produce one pup, and only enough milk to feed the one pup. Many pups, not finding their mother, were trying to join any mother they could find. We saw many mothers with several pups clinging to them. But if a mother were to allow a second or even third pup to nurse, it was likely all the pups would die from malnourishment. So, the number of pups that would die from this storm would only climb over the next few days. Seagulls would peck at the pups to see if they were still alive. If not, they would start to feed on the carcass. In a few days Turkey Vultures and maybe even some of the nearby resident Condors would be seen feeding on the beach.

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The first photo below shows the northern beach a day or two before the storm. Note the open, recessed area at the bottom left of the photo. The next photo shows the same beach as the tide recedes. Debris is everywhere. In view are several fortunate pups that have found their mothers. But note the debris pile in what had been the open recession in the first photo. Barely visible sticking out from below it is the hind flippers of a buried pup, slightly above the head of the pup with its mother. It was stuck and crying loudly for its mother. No nearby females were responding.

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Not all was lost. Many pups had found their mothers. Even amongst the debris and through the sand some were suckling. Others, fed and safe again, got some needed rest.

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Another positive note is that this was still early in the birthing season. With the peak of the season still to come, the number of pups lost from this event would not have a significant impact on the overall health of the colony. We left the viewing are and went back to camp.
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#6 Ted

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Posted 15 January 2023 - 09:18 PM

PART 4 – Back at camp.

 

Returning to camp we decided to stop at the beach across from camp to see how the high surf had affected it. The dunes mention and the structures shown in Part 1 were gone. Instead the surf had scoured the beach, flattening everything and piling debris against the raised berm supporting the highway.

 

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Where the waves hit the cliffs on the north side of the beach they scoured the ice plant off of the cliff.

 

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We walked along the creek, under the bridge, and into the group camp area. Just the night before we had driven into the group camp to check it out. We turned around where the pavement ended near the creek and bridge. Not blocked by the berm, the high surf had come up the creek, under the bridge, and into the group camp, leaving debris all about. This included a log nearly four feet in diameter right where we had turned around the night before. And all of this was only a hundred feet from our camp site. We had no idea this was happening as we slept that night.

 

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We travel the way we do because we enjoy nature. Sometimes we just get reminded that nature can be cruel. The next morning was clear and calm. We had a long drive up to Marin County to attend a wedding. The rest of our trip would be a pleasant break from the sad event we had witnessed.

 

It has been a long time since I have done a trip report. Thanks for coming along.


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#7 Casa Escarlata Robles Too

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Posted 15 January 2023 - 09:43 PM

Ted thank you for taking the time to show us your wonderful trip.

For me personally your photos and story have a lot of memories for us.

Over the years of visiting that area we have seen the seal colony at many

different times of the year.

 

They are an experience to watch.

 

Have you ever visited the SP at Ano Nuevo? It's not as laid back It gets many

more visitors due to it's closeness to the bay area,but the seals put on a good show.

 

Glad to see you out and about.

Frank


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#8 ski3pin

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Posted 15 January 2023 - 10:56 PM

I sure hope this means Ted trip reports are back!  :)

 

Very nice photos and story telling. It's a reminder we all play by Mother Nature's rules.

 

Thanks T&D!


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#9 Ted

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Posted 16 January 2023 - 03:25 AM

Thanks for the kudos on doing a report again, guys.

 

Frank, we did visit Ano Nuevo many years ago. As I recall, there are not any places to camp nearby, making it easier to do a multiple day visit to this colony. BTW, hope you are staying high and dry as part of the new "island" off of California.

 

Monte, I'm not sure about more reports. Doing them in parts definitely helps, but they still take quite a bit of effort. We shall see.


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#10 Casa Escarlata Robles Too

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Posted 16 January 2023 - 06:06 PM

Yes a day visit is about all you can do for Ano Nuevo.

There is a redwood campground  Butano SP in the Pescadero area.

It's not as close as San Simeon is to the seals though.

Actually the San Simeon seals are a better view.

 

Thanks again for the story and photos.

Glad you and Donna had a great time.

 

At this time we aren't an island. I think the news people are maybe

getting ahead of the story.

Although back in 1995 we were isolated from Monterey for a couple days though.

 

That's the flood they are using as a comparison.

 

No problems here.Power on food good only a lot of condensation in my "glass roof room".

 

Hope you are high and dry at home.

Frank


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