"Every winter about 10,000 elephant seals make their way to California's Año Nuevo State Park to fight, mate and give birth. The spectacle runs from mid-December through March, drawing wildlife watchers eager for a glimpse of the largest seals on the planet. During what park docent Laura Stern called "pupping season," bull seals - some reaching up to 16 feet (4.9 meters) in length and weighing up to 2.5 tons - engage in bloody battles for breeding access to the females."
"Elephant seals were hunted nearly to extinction in the 1800s, sought out for their blubber, which was used to make oil. In 1892, fewer than 100 of the animals remained on a small island off the coast of Baja California. Recognizing the crisis, the Mexican government extended legal protection to the species in 1922, followed shortly by protection in the United States. Today the population has grown to an estimated 250,000 seals living in the Pacific."
About 10,000 elephant seals visit Año Nuevo State Park each winter from mid-December through March to breed, fight and give birth. Bull seals can reach up to 16 feet (4.9 meters) and 2.5 tons and engage in bloody battles for breeding access. Most elephant seals return to the beach where they were born. Female seals nurse 75-pound (34-kg) pups on the sand dunes while visitors join docent-led guided walks. The species was hunted nearly to extinction in the 1800s, fell below 100 individuals by 1892, received legal protection beginning in 1922, and has since recovered to about 250,000 in the Pacific, though a genetic bottleneck remains from roughly 30–60 founders.
Read at The Mercury News
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