Sunday, February 3, 2019

California elephant seal pups and their nursing mothers completely conquered a National Park beach during the shutdown, and they are adorable and ruthless squatters

Hilary Brueck

16h

rangers giving tours elephant seal takeover — People watch as elephant seals and their pups occupy Drakes Beach Friday, February 1, 2019,

A group of elephant seals took advantage of the quiet on Drakes Beach during the government shutdown to knock down a fence, get cozy in the sand, and nurse their pups.
There are reportedly about 60 seals and 30 pups there right now.
The government is open again, but the sea mammals are standing their ground. On Saturday, park rangers started giving guided tours of the beach the animals have conquered.

While federal employees were away, the seals came out to play.

It's hard to say exactly when it happened, but at some point during the five-week government shutdown, a herd of elephant seals took advantage of all the quiet time on federal beaches, and became squatters on a stretch of Point Reyes National Seashore, a place in Marin County, California not far from San Francisco where people usually roam.

Even though the government is back in business, and park rangers have returned to work, the seals aren't budging. It's elephant seal child-rearing season right now, and the moms are busy with important parenting duties, after all.

On Saturday, rangers and volunteer docents started giving tours of the seal-occupied beach, keeping tourists at a safe distance from the seals. Take a look at where they've set up shop:

The occupation started when the seals knocked down a fence. Undeterred by the usual human presence on the beach, they set up camp.

The entire Drakes Beach area is now closed to the public, "to better protect the elephant seals from disturbance," the NPS said.

December to February is breeding season for the California seals. Normally, when the government is open, they set up camp nearby, above Drakes Bay.

The males arrive in December to claim their positions on the beach, and the females come in after them.

Females, who gestate for about seven months, will birth just one precious pup and they need this beach time to fatten up their babes in a hurry, and get them ready to swim.

Rangers and volunteer docents have opened the parking lot back up now that the shutdown is over, and they are giving guided tours of the makeshift seal nursery, walking people to the edge of the lot so they can get a closer look at the seals and their pups.

It's an unusual sight: elephant seals spend most of the year at sea, migrating from California and Mexico to Alaska and the north Pacific.

They are impressive divers and swimmers, reaching depths of 300 feet deep or more, and typically staying underwater for 20-30 minutes at a time. They log up to 21,000 miles at sea every year.

There are more than 100,000 of the elephant seals off the California coast during breeding season. About 60 of the adults and 30 pups have made it to this particular beach, according to SF Gate.

Source: SF Gate

The seal pups have a lot of growing to do during this time. They weigh around 65 pounds when they're first born, but they'll triple their birth weight during the first month of life, as they nurse by their mother's side. They'll also "molt" (shed) their baby black fur coat and replace it with a silver one that looks more grown-up.

After about 28 days, the seal mommas will abruptly get up and leave. The baby seals are left to their own devices on the beach, to figure out how to swim and catch fish. It's quite the weaning strategy.

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