Beach Masters

 

Impossibly large, elephant seals are equally argumentative on California beaches, where the drama of seal life plays out daily. North America's largest seals were nearly wiped out by hunting in the 1880s, but a remnant population in Mexico helped the seals rebound in California where they are protected today.

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I took a trip to California just to spend time with these amazing animals and, boy howdy, did they not disappoint. At Piedras Blancas, the fights, friendships and fun played out in little moments I observed across the beach.

Most wildlife interactions are fleeting moments captured or lost in the click of a shutter. That's what made Piedras Blancas such a welcome change. Here I was able to spend days watching the intimate dramas play out across a narrow stretch of sand.

A young elephant seal plays with a patch of seaweed. These enormous pinnipeds have outsize personalities as well. When this seal eventually takes to the ocean, it will be able to dive a half-mile deep for fish and squid. 

Baby seals play with seals their own age and size. It's no fun to be bullied by older, bigger animals all the time. Daily practice will prepare the seals for the day they try to claim their own stretch of beach.

The air temperature might be 50 degrees, but the sun is too warm for an elephant seal. A thin layer of sand deflects the ultraviolet light, keeping the seal cool.

Elephant seals are deep-sleepers. This one kicked up a sandstorm with every exhale.

What do you do when your playmate is no fun? Bite her in the shoulder. But this one was too sleepy and wouldn't take the bait.

Two juvenile seals square off in a wrestling match that's all in good fun. The sparring only lasts a short time before it's time for another nap.

All the seals clear a path when the beachmaster comes ashore. Weighing more than 3,000 pounds, the bull elephant seal bellowed and roared nonstop to assert his dominance over this stretch of beach. We hear you.

Two enormous bull seals square off at Piedras Blancas while the other seals watch. When these two-ton titans refuse to back down, the fights can get vicious and dangerous. But this spat ended before it got started when the seal on the right yielded and waddled away.