Elephant Seals & Sea Otters

To our surprise, today dawned clear and sunny. We ate breakfast, prepared our lunches, and started driving up the coast. Our first stop was the elephant seal rookery. We weren't sure what to expect. We knew the main mating goes on in January and February, and weren't sure if there would be any elephant seals along the beach during the spring. We were very surprised by what we saw. There were thousands of elephant seals over the mile-long swath of the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery. One of the volunteers told us that there were no elephant seals in this area until the mid-90's. Now, there are about 17,000 elephant seals that visit the area. The elephant seals are visiting the rookery now as a part of the molting process. They are growing new skin and hair while shedding their old. The largest males haven't arrived yet, but there were lots of juvenile males.


The Look of Love	Sand Arch	Elephant Seal Duet

Sea Lion Rookery

We continued driving north on Highway 1, but quickly discovered there are far fewer overlooks along the most scenic sections than we saw around Big Sur. We drove as far as Gordo before we decided the coast was getting too hazy to get anything good. We were doing a lot of driving, but getting nothing worth shooting.

On the way back south, we returned to the elephant seal rookery and shot for another 45 minutes. We didn't really need more shots, but the elephant seals were fascinating to watch. They're too huge to be cute, and their vocalizations are certainly not harmonious. Nevertheless, these giant tan or gray sausages are still fascinating to watch.

It was about 4:00 when we returned to Morro Bay, so we drove over to check out the sea otters. Just like yesterday, they had congregated just off shore near Morro Rock. The mother was there with her pup, but they seemed to be having some kind of disagreement. The pup kept vocalizing as he seemed to crawl all over his mother. He definitely did not seem happy.

Tonight was shrimp scampi night, complete with garlic toast. We have definitely eaten well on this trip.