Northern elephant seals find love in coastal California rookeries

Wildlife watching is one of the pleasures of RV touring, where you can see completely different animals and birds as you wander to different regions of the country.

The national parks are prime sources for viewing wildlife, since they are protected and have gotten used to human presence. In Yellowstone you can see bison, elk, black and grizzly bears, and if you're lucky, grey wolves.

Mountain goats and bighorn sheep hang out in Logan Pass in Glacier, and you can watch California condors soar on their 9-foot wingspans over the Grand Canyon.

In California, elephant seals that had once been hunted almost to distinction, have seen their population increase dramatically. Most of the seal rookeries are on islands off the West coast from Vancouver Island to Baja California where an estimated 120,000 to 150,000 breed. This enormusly successful recovery was made possible by the outlawing of fur seal hunting in 1922--increasing from only about 125 animals in 1911.

Seals spend eight to ten months a year in the open ocean, diving 1000 to 5000 feet deep for periods of fifteen minutes to two hours, and migrating thousands of miles, twice a year, to their land based rookeries for birthing, breeding, molting, and rest. They are most active from December through March at the rookeries. 

But you don't have to travel to offshore islands to see these magnificent animals--adult males grow to lengths of 15 to 18 feet long and weights of 3,600 to 5,400 pounds--there are mainland rookeries where the seals can now be found. And there are campgrounds, both private and in State Parks, within close proximity of the rookeries.

The oldest mainland rookery and most widely known, Ano Nuevo State Park north of Santa Cruz on Route 1, is a major and accessable rookery. Guided tours are available and access is limited and requires a reservation most of the time when the seals are active.

In recent years the seal rookery at Piedras Blancas, on California highway 1 at the southern end of Big Sur seven miles north of San Simeon and four miles north of the entrance to the Hearst Castle, has seen its population explode to an estimated 17,000 animals. A main viewing area is open for viewing every day of the year, there is no admission fee or reservation required, and the parking lot will accommodate big rigs with plenty of turn around space.

The location is ideal for the seals: it is protected by the Piedras Blancas point from storms from the northwest; it has wide, sandy beaches offering pups protection from high water; and it is protected from predators by a kelp forest.

Another mainland rookery can be found at Point Reyes National Seashore where the first female gave birth to a single pup in 1981. About 700 seals litter the Point Reyes beaches and 200 pups have already been born with more likely. Last Winter and Spring 600 pups were born at the rookery.

You can learn more about elephant seals here or watch a video of the seals at Piedras Blancas.