Elephant Seals at Piedras Blancas

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of assisting my good friend Jason Bradley with his annual elephant seal workshop.  Our trip was timed to coincide with the peak of activity at the rookery near San Simeon.  It’s truly one of North America’s most spectacular wildlife experiences.   On a typical day you can expect to see several thousand seals on the beach, vicious territorial battles between males, mating, nursing pups, and possibly a handful of births.  This year we had the rare opportunity to witness a small sea lion sneak into the rookery and feed off a nursing mother alongside her pup.  The mom did notice something was a bit off, but allowed the sea lion to nurse for a few minutes before chasing it off.  For more info about these amazing marine mammals and the rookery… http://www.elephantseal.org/