Tag Archives: marine

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Napping Elephant Seals

August 23, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A crowd of elephant seals napping on the beach near Point Piedras Blancas

This is (yet another!) photograph of elephant seals lolling about on the beach near Point Piedras Blancas just south of the Big Sur coastline. This location is well-known for providing easy access to viewing of these remarkable animals. They are found in many other locations along the coast now that their numbers have recovered, but in most places access is much more difficult. Here there is an “elephant seal nursery” mere feet for the Pacific Coast Highway, with short observation trails that give good views of the action and which protect both the seals and the human visitors.

I visited a bit earlier in this season when the pups were still rather small. This visit was almost an afterthought — after a morning of photographing landscapes and seascapes along the Big Sur coast I found myself at the southern end of this area with a few hours to kill in midday light, so I decided to drive a bit further and visit the seals. There were not nearly as many there at this later point in the season, but there were still plenty for me to make photographs. Images of the animals lying almost motionless on the sand not only evoke our own pleasant thoughts of doing the same thing (!) but they can also create a false impression that the lives of these creatures are lives of ease. In fact, the reality seems quite a bit different. In contrast to what seems like a life as a big chunk of sleeping blubber, these animals become quite sleek and graceful once in the water — where I understand that they have to be on the lookout in order to avoid become a snack for a great white shark!

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Wildlife

Elephant Seals and Blue Water

August 17, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Elephant seals resting on a Southern California beach at the edge of the water

This time of year, a lot of elephant seal photographs are likely to be “elephant seals napping/resting/sleeping on beach” photographs, since that seems to be how these critters spend the bulk of their time. If 100 of them are around the beach, perhaps two are out for a swim, and occasionally one or two might move around a bit or engage in some biting, butting battles with one another, but the rest pretty much must there, occasionally flipping some sand on their backs or scratching somewhere.

This large group was crowded together tightly right along the edge of the wave line. For the most part there was little or no action, though occasionally one would come or go, or one might jockey for a more favorable position in the pile. I realized that if I moved further away from their position that I could shoot back over them right along the beach, and once I got to this camera position I realized that the wet sand beautifully reflected the blue of the sky.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Elephant Seal Nursery

July 16, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The elephant seal nursery at Piedras Blancas, California

A virtual blanket of elephant seals spreads across the beach just above the waterline at the Piedras Blancas elephant seal “nursery.” During the winter months these large and impressive animals come ashore to give birth and to breed, and after a strong recover during recent decades their numbers have increased greatly, to the point that it is not possible to find them in a number of locations along the Pacific Ocean coast, and not just in those set aside specifically for them.

A still photograph like this one lies at least a little bit, or perhaps just tells a bit less than the full truth. The scene looks very static, with almost no sign of animals doing anything other than lying prone in the sand. In fact, there does seem to be a lot of “sunbathing” going on here! But there is activity. The babies and juveniles are sometimes found huddled together in groups, occasionally cuddled up next to one of the adult females, and quite often nursing. Occasional territorial disputes arise, and they often seem to be settled by some noisy bluffing and baring of teeth. (The battles between large males are a different story, and they can be quite violent and even bloody.) Occasionally one of the seals move up onto the beach or leaves it for the water — if you look closely you can probably spot a few on the move in the photograph.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Elephant Seal Vocalizing

July 15, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Elephant seal vocalizing, Piedras Blancas elephant seal rookery

The Piedras Blancas elephant seal “nursery” is a well-known place to observe these great animals, especially during the time of year when they come ashore here to give birth. This is most certainly not the only place where the elephant seals come ashore now that their numbers have recovered, but it is one of the most accessible, being literally only feet away from the Pacific Coast highway. A short trail along the edge of the low bluff above the beach allows you to safely watch the action from a very short distance.

At times portions of the beach are virtually filled with elephant seals, often packed tightly together — large adult males who may be lounging around or fighting to establish dominance, females who are often nursing their young, and the juveniles who are born on this beach. The sound (and the smell, but I’ll leave that to your imagination!) of all these animals is quite something, including sounds that might be described as screams, howls, barks, and the almost mechanical sounding guttural calls of the largest males.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: marine

Elephant Seal Nursery

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Elephant Seal Vocalizing

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.

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Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.