Elephant Seal Viewing

There are a few places in California where you can see northern elephant seals in their natural environments, but I’m not sure there is a better place than Año Nuevo State Park. Elephant seal viewing is available year round, but I would recommend going in January or February during mating and birthing season. The number of elephant seals on the beaches and the activity level is truly amazing.

Elephant Seal Fight

There not many things more awe inspiring than two large bull elephant seals fighting for dominance. A large bull can be up to 5,000 pounds. Now imagine two of them fighting to decide which gets to mate and rule the area. As one battle started when I was watching from a bluff above, one bull raised up and crashed down on the other. I could feel the vibrations from the impact in the sand dune I was standing on.

There is a viewing area at Año Nuevo State Park known as Bite Beach. This is a perfect name, as there tend to be a large number of bull elephant seals there and they are constantly testing each other. This is just a sample of what can be seen there. It is a little difficult to see, but there is a third male in this photo. It was basically trying not to end up as part of the fight, moving out of the area as quickly as it could.

There are many times when two bulls approach each other, and nothing happens. One will back off. If a fight does happen, it may only be a matter of moments, so you have to keep an eye out for any time a bull starts to approach another bull.

Elephant Seal Beach

On the largest elephant seal beach, you can potentially see hundreds of seals all at once. The level of activity can be mind boggling. There are so many things happening all at once, you have to keep scanning the entire area. There are bull elephant seals that may be battling, mothers nursing pups, pups crying out for mothers, and bulls trying to mate with one of their harem. If you are lucky, you may even see a pup being born.

Northern Elephant Seal Alone on the Beach

This was my third year visiting Año Nuevo, and my second time going on a special access weekend. For a very reasonable cost, you get several hours of elephant seal beach access. You are free to wonder around the sand dunes, guided by rangers and docents to help keep you and the elephant seals safe. One of my goals has been to capture an image of a bull northern elephant seal alone on the beach. Ideally with it sounding off. With the seals almost constantly moving, it can be very difficult to isolate a single bull in a frame, let alone have it in a stance you want.

Three years and a few thousand photos later… I was able to capture this image. I’ll keep hoping and trying for an image that is a little closer. Regardless, I am more than thrilled to have captured this image.

Elephant Seal Facts

As I was capturing this image, one of the rangers was telling us about the purpose of the vocalizing. He said that bulls remember the sounds of other bulls. They know which ones they have fought and lost against. Who they have beaten in a battle, and they know if they have never encountered a specific bull before. All of this from the unique vocalizing of a bull. Based on the number of other bulls that were moving away quickly as this one was sounding off on the beach, this bull was very well known and very dominant.