Elephant Seals at Ano Nuevo State Park 2019
Elephant seals are strange creatures and difficult to see in the wild...except at the few beaches where they come to mate and give birth. We happen to be close to Ano Nuevo State Park and it has been on my list for years but you need to take a tour and those are often booked up so you have to plan. Finally one of my friends took the lead and got a big group of us a Saturday tour. All photos are thanks to my friends!
It's an easy walk from the station out to the beach, just a few little sand dunes.
The younger males who don't have a harem basically just stay out of the way. Of course that means they are sometimes on the path. They don't really care about the humans, but no need to fuss them so we take alternate paths.
At the shore are the groups. Mainly they are sleeping but there is such a large group that there is always some action somewhere.
Old lighthouse station
The new pups hang out pretty close to mom. They grow at a tremendous rate, but it still takes weeks for them to get to the point they can go it alone.
Cracks me up!
If the mating attempt is by one of the young upstarts, the alpha will come rushing over to drive him away.
Always need to know what the poop looks like ;)
During the mating season they don't eat so there is very little poop around.
If you are in the area for elephant seals you may as well stop off for pie! Duarte's is famous for their cream of artichoke soup and
PIE!
They have a James Beard award for being an American Classic restaurant and they haven't needed to change anything. There might be a wait on the weekend, but it is worth it.
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