Jill's Journal: Not far from Hearst Castle, only a hop, skip, and jump up the rugged California coast, is the Piedras Blancas Rookery. Nature’s largest and most unattractive seals, the elephant seals, return year after year from Alaska and use this section of the shoreline to give birth and mate. A boardwalk on the bluff protects visitors from the massive creatures while giving a birdseye view of the dramatic proceedings. It’s fascinating stuff and well worth the trip.
The elephant seals get their name not only from their size (the males average about 5,000 pounds!), but also from the long, dangling, trunk-like nose the males sport. Even though the picture makes it look like these seals simply sun themselves on the beach, these are not peaceful animals to watch. They are constantly fighting for position and arguing over what appears to be just about everything. The noise is surprisingly deafening, but not so surprising when it’s estimated 15,000 of these animals use this particular shoreline. Amazing stuff.
This picture clearly shows a pup, a female, and a male. And one very cool note: a day or two after seeing the elephant seals in person, they just randomly happened to be our science class topic in 1st Grade! I’m really, really starting to enjoy homeschooling.
The elephant seals get their name not only from their size (the males average about 5,000 pounds!), but also from the long, dangling, trunk-like nose the males sport. Even though the picture makes it look like these seals simply sun themselves on the beach, these are not peaceful animals to watch. They are constantly fighting for position and arguing over what appears to be just about everything. The noise is surprisingly deafening, but not so surprising when it’s estimated 15,000 of these animals use this particular shoreline. Amazing stuff. 
This picture clearly shows a pup, a female, and a male. And one very cool note: a day or two after seeing the elephant seals in person, they just randomly happened to be our science class topic in 1st Grade! I’m really, really starting to enjoy homeschooling.
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