Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery Photos |

Elephant Seals are obviously not the only species with this problem!

This sub-adult male seems a bit sheepish about his not yet mature mating attempts.

He looks at me almost as if he’s apologetic!

He’s just practising now, learning how to deal with all the rejection.

Elephant Seal mating is disturbingly violent. It is a hard life being an elephant seal.

Looking into the female’s eyes it is impossible not to feel sorry for her and her continual harassment.

For now at least, the adolescent males just look beached and confused!
Cheers to you the Piedras Blancas elephant seals~

Title quote: “Cool Hand Luke.”

Piedras Blancas in California has a thriving rookery of Northern Elephant Seals, a sub-species of the largest seals in the world reaching up to 5000 pounds and 16 feet in length. Pups are born here mostly in the month of January.

Births peak mid January.

Over 5000 births occur annually here. Some nice mamas like this one, feed pups other than their own!

Elephant seals nurse for about a month, during this time, mothers stay with pups continuously and do not return to to the sea to feed until weaning is complete.

Elephant Seal milk is the richest milk in the mammalian world, which it needs to be since elephant seals grow so rapidly. This cheeky seagull pecked this little pup causing him to unlatch during nursing, releasing milk, which the seagull tried to drink!

Mama obviously did not approve!

There are still newborns in the rookery now, identifiable by their neonatal folds.

Maternal infant bonds are evident and strong! Mamas can be seen frequently kissing pups.

Northern Elephant Seal populations were hunted to the brink of extinction and by the late 1800’s there were under 100 of them left worldwide. The species has made a remarkable come-back due to conservation efforts and marine mammal protections.