Elephant Seals | Pacific Coast Highway | California

We almost missed the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery, as it is barely marked and not visible from the highway, but, it was totally worth the diversion! We arrived shortly after the birthing season which meant that all of the mammas were snuggled up with their pups. At a glance, the beach looked riddled with large boulders but upon closer inspection, you could see the mammals spooning with each other. I was fascinated to see that they were using their front fins to scratch themselves and throw sand on top of themselves to keep them warm.

In case you, like me, know nothing about Elephant Seals, here is an infographic to bring you up to speed:

And, here is an angry male Elephant Seal trying to claim his territory from two other males:

Have you ever seen two elephant seals fight?

A video posted by Lauren Irons (@laurenirons) on Jan 4, 2015 at 6:52am PST