By Robert Bernstein
This is the season for elephant seal mothers to be birthing pups. So, we went up to San Simeon to have a look. We were not disappointed! Plenty of nursing pups, mothers and huge posturing male elephant seals!
Here are my photos and videos.
This is one of the helpful educational signs that explained what we were seeing
We immediately encountered pups nursing their mothers in scenes like this
Elephant seals were laid out on the beach as far as you could see!
The males like to rear up and bellow like this
There is a big long viewing boardwalk for safe viewing
At the far end of the boardwalk we saw this cluster of a bunch of pups with no adults nearby. Not sure what that was about.
The males would approach the females and bite their necks in a show of elephant seal affection.
This view of a male, females and a pup shows the face of the male that gives the animal its name.
On Valentine’s Day we were up at Lizard’s Mouth and saw this rock formation that I thought looked like an elephant seal. What do you think?
The elephant seal viewing area is near the Piedras Blancas Lighthouse which we could see in the distance.
Here are three short videos I made showing the elephant seal activities in all their glory!
The elephant seal viewing area is about a 2 ½ hour drive from Goleta. After admiring the elephant seals for about an hour we went on for some other adventures in the area. Please stand by for some more articles!