Northern Elephant Seals at Chimney Rock

Bulls, cows, and pups at Chimney Rock
Photo by Casey Brechbill, 2011, All Rights Reserved. 

Northern elephant seals are amazing creatures.  They spend 80% of their life in the open ocean and most of that time is spent underwater.  They have the farthest migration of any mammal on land or sea because they migrate twice each year!  Northern elephant seals spend the year travelling from the beaches where they breed and have their pups to their feeding grounds far out in the Pacific Ocean, back to the beaches to molt, and then back to their feeding grounds.

Since 1981, when the first breeding pair returned to the Point Reyes National Seashore, the population of northern elephant seals at Chimney Rock has grown by leaps and bounds.  Though they have been seen at Chimney Rock year-round, the best time of year to see them is between December and March, when the seals return to Point Reyes to breed.

While at sea, elephant seals spend much of their time diving for food.  They can dive as deep as 5000 feet and stay down for 40 minutes!  Their normal dive is between 1,000 and 2,000 feet deep, where there are few other predators competing for the same food.  To dive this deep, elephant seals store extra oxygen in their blood, collapse their lungs, and slow their heart rate down to about 10% of normal.  Elephant seals eat fish, squid, octopus, and small sharks.

Bulls often have wounds around their neck from fights. 
 Photo by Casey Brechbill, 2011, All Rights Reserved.

Because they spend so much time in cold water, northern elephant seal s have a thick layer of blubber, or fat, under their skin.  In the 1800’s, northern elephant seals were hunted almost to extinction for their blubber, which was used for lamp oil.  In the 1920’s, Mexico and the United States banned the hunting of elephant seals.  The species has made an amazing recovery, from less than 100 animals to over 100,000.

There is still plenty to learn about elephant seals.  Until recently, much of what was known about them came from studying animals that were deceased.  With improvements in technology, researchers have been able to learn much more.  Northern elephant seals have been fitted with satellite and radio tags as part of the Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP) study.  Attaching a tag to a female elephant seal that weighs between 1,000 and 2,000 pounds is quite a process! Studies like these help researchers learn more about elephant seals and about the ocean environment that they travel through. 

Males have an extra large nose and are much larger than females.  
Photo by Casey Brechbill, 2011, All Rights Reserved.

 There are several places to see elephant seals in Point Reyes.  For some of the best viewing, take a drive out to Chimney Rock and walk on the paved trail to the Elephant Seal Overlook.  On weekends and holidays during peak viewing season, the Park operates a shuttle bus service between the Ken Patrick Visitor’s Center at Drakes Beach and Chimney Rock and the Lighthouse.  More information on the shuttle bus can be found here: http://www.nps.gov/pore/planyourvisit/shuttle.htm

For more information on these fascinating mammals, visit our sources: http://www.nps.gov/pore/naturescience/elephant_seals.htm  or  http://topp.org/species/elephant_seals