It's That Time Of The Year - Again

ROAD TRIP!
Some of you will be looking for something to do with your kids this long Martin Luther King holiday weekend, so here's my annual suggestion for you... Jump in the car and motor on up to the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal colony for an experience you and your kids will NEVER forget.


PIEDRAS BLANCAS ELEPHANT SEALS ARE WAITING
I've written about this experience several times in the past, HERE, HERE and HERE. I won't repeat all I've previously written except to say that each of you should find a way to visit that venue at this time of the year. Now is Prime Time - baby elephant seals are popping out like Pez, males are fighting over mating rights and there is now mating going on before your very eyes.
THE PERFECT WEEKEND TRIP
The Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal colony is located on Highway 1, approximately 50 miles north of San Luis Obispo. It's 4 miles north of Hearst Castle, which is another venue you could visit on this long weekend. The drive north along Highway 101 will take you through Santa Barbara - a perfect place for lunch. Once you turn onto Highway 1 at San Luis Obispo you'll pass through Morro Bay, Cayucos, Cambria and San Simeon before reaching the colony. Each little community offers much to visitors in the way of food and shopping and glorious vistas. Each offers affordable accommodations, too.
INCLUDE HEARST CASTLE IN YOUR ITINERARY
Of course, Hearst Castle - 4 miles south of the colony - is a great place to stop, visit the gift shop, see the museum, grab a snack and use the restroom. If you want to take a tour of the castle, I highly recommend including the docu-drama about the construction of the castle shown in the IMAX theater on site. It really enhances any castle visit.
SAFE, EASY VIEWING
The elephant seal viewing site now has two large parking lots right along the highway and two boardwalks from which you can safely stand and look down on the elephant seal extravaganza only a few feet away. You'll find helpful docents, members of the Friends of the Elephant Seal, on site to answer questions and enhance your visit. Look for the smiling folks in the blue windbreakers.
OTHER CRITTERS, TOO
If you're lucky you'll see a birth or two during your visit. And, because of the location of this colony, you'll likely also see otters, Harbor seals, Stellar Sea Lions, and perhaps some dolphins and whales cruising past. Heck, you might even see some of the Hearst Ranch zebras as you approach the castle.
THE COLONY
The Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal colony is the fastest growing colony in the world! Approximately 17,000 elephant seals visit this site each year - twice - following long ocean voyages - up to 5,000 miles - where they forage for food and fatten themselves up. The pups, which weigh between 60 - 80 pounds at birth, nurse for almost a month, gaining 10 pounds a day! That's right! And the mother will lose about 20 pounds a day during that time. By the time the pups are weaned they will weigh 350 pounds or more.
BIG GUYS FIGHTING
On the other end of the spectrum, the largest males weigh around 5,000 pounds - as much as your Suburban! Since none of the elephant seals eat during their visit to the rookery, living on stored fat, the big guys will drop around one third of their body weight before they depart in a couple months. You'll almost certainly see the big guys fighting - raising up, chest-to-chest, and slamming each other with their prodigious teeth - trying to defend a harem of anywhere from 10-50 females.
IT'S WORTH THE DRIVE...
Plan a trip to the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal colony this weekend, or anytime between now and the beginning of March. The last four years more than 4,000 pups were born to this colony, so it's quite a show. Give yourself a treat - jump in your car for a trip to California's most pristine stretch of coastline for an experience you'll never forget. For more information visit the web site for the Friends Of The Elephant Seal, HERE.

I'm Baaaack!

TOOK MY OWN ADVICE
"Where have you been, Potstirrer?" you ask. Well, you will recall, on December 26, 2010 (HERE) I gave you a heads-up for a wonderful experience viewing Northern Elephant Seals on our glorious Central California Coast. Last weekend I took my own advice, convinced my lovely and patient wife to join me and visited that rookery, which is in Prime Time again. And, as an added bonus, it's a wonderful way to flush local politics out of your mind for a few days - reason enough to make the trip!
A GREAT EXPERIENCE!
As you can see from the photos included, there are thousands of seals on the beach, including hundreds of pups (at least) born within the past few days.

A GREAT TIME GUARANTEED
If you take a weekend and make a run up to this site - about 4 miles above Hearst Castle and approximately 280 miles from Costa Mesa - I guarantee you'll have the experience of a lifetime!

You'll see females nursing their new pups or just snoozing in the sun...
You'll see males fighting for dominance of his harem - anywhere from 10 to 50 females...
You'll see seagulls cleaning up the beach - they go after the placenta...
You'll see pups in jeopardy of being crushed by amorous males...
You'll see "amore'" on the beach...
And you'll see the dominant males staying ever-alert for interlopers.
INEXPENSIVE FUN
All this costs you is a couple tankfuls of gas and a weekend. If you combine it with a trip to Hearst Castle, it will be an even more memorable weekend. Any time between the middle of December through the first couple weeks of March is great for viewing these magnificent critters, but I always tell folks that Valentine's weekend is a good time because it's so inspirational - there's a whole lot of lovin' going on down on the beach then.

ACCOMMODATIONS ABOUND
There are plenty of rooms available in Cambria and San Simeon and lots of great restaurants and shops, too. Beach-side rooms, romantic walks on the beach, great food....

PICK A DATE AND DRIVE!
So, target a weekend between now and the end of February because that's when the "action" is at it's best, with birthing, fighting and mating going on simultaneously. This colony of elephant seals is the fasted growing such group in the world and, by far, the most accessible... you can step out of your car and take 10 steps to view them.

FOR MORE INFORMATION...
For more in-depth information visit the web site for this location at www.elephantseal.org.

Have fun!

It's Elephant Seal Viewing Time Again!

A VERY SPECIAL PLACE - AND CLOSE, TOOOnce again I'll remind you of a very special experience that awaits you just 275 miles north, along the California Central Coast.

FIVE EASY DRIVING HOURSAbout 4.5 miles north of Hearst Castle on California Highway 1(about 50 miles north of San Luis Obispo) and just south of the Piedras Blancas lighthouse, is the winter breeding grounds of the largest and fastest growing colony of Northern Elephant Seals in the world! I wrote about it for you three years ago, HERE. The only thing that has changed since that time is that the colony has gotten larger and the viewing is much easier.

LOTS OF PUPS BEING BORNAfter fairly stable birth rates - around 4,000 per year for the three previous years - last year 4,500 pups were born at the Piedras Blancas colony! The first pups are typically born December 15th but this year the first reported birth was on the 10th and the pups are now popping out like Pez. This time of year it's very likely that you'll see births happening as you stand only a few yards away.

BIG GUYS FIGHTINGYou'll also see large males - 5,000 pounds in some cases - fighting for the privilege of mating with the ladies on the beach. The most dominant males may have harems of up to 50 females and must constantly be on the alert to protect them from interlopers.

EXCELLENT PARKING AND EASY VIEWINGThere are two large parking lots along Highway 1 created specifically for Elephant Seal viewing. At the south end there is a boardwalk that places you practically in the midst of the thousands of seals present at this time of year. At the north end of the southern lot is a brand new trail which takes you to the northern lot and provides another excellent viewing venue. You can simply step out of your car and take a few steps to see these magnificent critters.

NOW IS "PRIME TIME""Prime Time" at the colony is from the middle of December until the first couple weeks of March. While viewing is excellent during this entire time, I tell folks the best time to go if you have school-age children is Martin Luther King holiday. Valentine's Day is another excellent time because it's very inspirational. By that time many of the females have giving birth (one pup), nursed it for a month then goes into estrus. She will be mated with by one or more males before abandoning her pup on the beach to live on stored fat for a few weeks before teaching itself to swim.

WATCH FOR ZEBRAS!So, plan a trip this winter. Stay in Cambria or San Simeon. Include a visit to the Hearst Castle, or at least the visitor center, where an IMAX format theater shows nature films and a docu-drama about the building of Hearst Castle. Be sure to be alert for the Zebra herd that roams the pastureland near Highway 1 around the Castle.

PLAN A TRIP SOON
For more information you can visit the web site of the Friends of the Elephant Seal - the volunteer guides who staff the bluff to inform visitors - HERE. Take the trip - you'll be glad you did.

A TASTE OF THE ACTION
Here's a little taste of the action on the beach. The first big guy is trying to mate. He's chased away by a more dominant male. And, yes, some pups get crushed by this action.

My Christmas Gift To You

'Tis the season, so here's my little Christmas gift to you. Treat yourselves to a truly wonderful experience - one that can be accomplished with a little drive over a weekend.

A TRIP WORTH TAKING
The big galoot you see above is an Alpha male Northern Elephant Seal. He will be around 20 feet long and weigh around 5,000 pounds. This time of the year he hauls out, along with several thousand others, onto the beaches just north of Hearst Castle on Highway 1 above San Luis Obispo. This colony, which makes two visits a year to this particular stretch of beach, has grown from a dozen critters in 1990 to well over 16,000 now. Last year more than 4100 pups were born to this colony.


EASY VIEWING
This colony is the most accessible in the United States - the main haul out beach is beside Highway 1 - and there is more than ample parking and a cadre of docents to help you understand what you'll be seeing.
PRIME TIME BEGINS NOW!
This is the beginning of "prime time" for this colony. The first pregnant females began arriving a week ago and the first pup was born on the beach on December 18th. These little guys - they weigh around 60 pounds at birth - will nurse for nearly a month, gaining around 10 pounds a day, ending up at around 350 pounds. When the female goes into estrus she stops nursing the pup, engages in mating with at least one of the males in attendance, then leaves the pup on the beach while she departs for her prime feeding grounds off the Washington/Canadian coast.

BIG GUYS FIGHTING FOR MATING RIGHTS
You'll have a chance to see the large males establish and defend their harems - anywhere from 10 to 50 females - from interlopers. Usually, the Alpha males only have to pop their heads up from their normal snooze and the lesser bulls will scatter. However, it's not at all unusual to see bloody pitched battles between males as they try to establish their dominance. In these photos the two males fight to establish dominance, but neither will mate for a few more years, if ever. Only a very small percentage of these guys ever mate - 5-10%.

LOVE IS IN THE AIR
In my opinion, the best time to visit the colony is from the middle of January through the middle of March. Since there is so much amorous activity going on, Valentines Day turns out to be a perfect time. The Martin Luther King holiday is also a good time to visit because you get an extra day. For my fellow football fans, the weekend preceding the Super Bowl is a great time - no conflict of priorities.

OTTERS AND SEALS AND ZEBRAS - OH, MY!
Many days in January and February, in particular, it's possible to stand on the viewing boardwalk and see not only the elephant seals up close and personal, but view the otter colony that resides in the kelp just off shore. You'll also see Harbor Seals and seal lions in the rocks near the beach. It's even possible to see migrating whales and cruising dolphins. And, to further enhance your trip, the Hearst Ranch has a large herd of zebras that are usually visible from Highway 1 as you drive north from Cambria.

VISIT THIS WEB SITE
You can read much more, including slides shows showing births, etc., at the website operated by the docents mentioned above, Friends of the Elephant Seal, here.

INCLUDE HEARST CASTLE AND THE LIGHTHOUSE
I suggest you make a weekend of it by including a visit to Hearst Castle, which has recently renovated it's visitor center. Several tours are available. They also have an IMAX theater on the grounds where a docu-drama about the building of the castle can be viewed. Also, volunteers have, for the past few years, been cleaning up the grounds of the Piedras Blancas Lighthouse, which is immediately north of the elephant seal colony. Tours of the lighthouse grounds are conducted via the Hearst Castle Visitor Center.

RAGGED POINT
Further north a few miles you can stop at Ragged Point - the gateway to Big Sur - where it's possible to view migrating whales from the point.

WHERE TO STAY
Accommodations can be found in nearby Cambria and San Simeon. Our personal favorites are in Cambria along Moonstone Drive, which now has a terrific boardwalk to enhance your visit.

YOU WILL LOVE IT!
Trust me, regardless of your political leanings or whether you agree with all the other things discussed on this blog, you're going to love the experience at the elephant seal colony.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.