Natural History Wanderings

This past weekend I was at the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery near San Simeon

The large males were gone but here is a video of two young males practice fighting at
Elephant Seal Video. It is best viewed full screen.

This is the time of year when you can see the largest number of elephant seals.

From Friends of the Elephant Seal

Along with the whales, elephant seals were heavily hunted from the 18th century to the early 20th century, primarily for their blubber which was processed into oil for lamps and lubrication. The last surviving colony was on Guadalupe Island, unusual among islands off the Pacific coast of North America in its distance from the mainland (170 mi, 270 km). It is estimated that the population of that colony dropped to as low as 50 seals, putting the species at the very edge of extinction. The development of kerosene and protection by Mexico in the early 20th century greatly reduced their harvesting. Since that time their population has grown to 225,000 and it continues to increase.

For more information on Elephant Seals go to Friends of the Elephant Seal