March 5, 2007
Ele-Facts: Flexible Fins & Bendable Backbones
Despite looking rather cumbersome on land, elephant seals are quite flexible. The flexible spine and flippers of an elephant seal all it to live both on land and in the sea.
Bendable Backbones
Elephant seals are not especially agile on land, but in water, few creatures can compare. Their flexible backbones allow them to weave through the water at lightning speeds to catch prey and avoid predators.
When they haul out on beaches to mate and to molt, elephant seals haul their immense bodies across the sand using an undulating flop that requires a lot of back strength. When the big bulls fight for dominance, they stand on their front flippers and arch their backs in order to overpower each other.
In fact, an elephant seal can reach any part of its body with its front flippers and can even touch its nose to its tail. They're that flexible!
Flexible Flippers
Elephant seals have two webbed front flippers and two webbed back flippers. Their back flippers are relatively large but not as flexible as their smaller front flippers, which they can rotate and curl. Their front flippers even have nails.
Seals use their flippers for a variety of purposes. In the sea, they use their front flippers to navigate and their back flippers to propel them through the water. On land, they drag their back flippers but use their front flippers for a variety of things like:
To Move
Elephant seals drag themselves around on land, flopping along with the help of their front flippers. You'll see the alpha males use their front flippers alot to keep their heads up, vigilantly watching over their harems.
To Scratch
They've got flexible webbed digits with nails on their front flippers and with the help of their bendable spines, they can scratch anywhere!
To Flip Sand
Scientists aren't sure why the elephant seals flip sand on themselves. Perhaps to cool off, or to avoid sunburn, or because of some parasite. They do it day and night, rain or shine, young or old.
To Hold
Males will often hold the female down while they mate. They do this by biting the female's neck, laying on top of her, and holding her with their front flipper. I've also heard that dominant males may do this as a sign of protection, even going so far as to escort a female of a harem to the waterline after mating.
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January 19, 2007
Ele-Facts: When To Go See The Seals
When people find out that I visit Año Nuevo so often (once/week during mating and pupping season, several other times per year), the first question they inevitably ask:
When is the best time to see the elephant seals?
There are elephant seals at Año Nuevo year-round, but different ages and genders visit at different times. Most people go in the middle of summer, when very fractious seals molt their entire fur coat over a few weeks time. Let's just say, its not the elephant seal at its most photogenic.
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Northern Elephant Seal Bulls Fight For Dominance |
The best time of year, in my opinion, is right about now - late January to late February. Now the rookery is most active, with a variety of seals on land, all at the same time. You've got big males battling to keep their harems of females. The females are giving birth to dark little pups, and then weaning them 28 days later, leaving lots of plump, whining weaners flopping about.
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Northern Elephant Seal Mother With Pup |
So the next question is, what time of day should I go? Elephant seals have a think layer of blubber in order to protect themselves in the deep cold waters off of Alaska and thousands of feet underwater. On land, the seals will overheat if they exert themselves too much. You'll want to visit when it's coolest, so the earlier in the morning you get there, the better. Days with a breeze, that are cool and even drizzly, are when the seals will be most active.
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Very Young Northern Elephant Seal Pup |
I tend to go on weekdays - there are fewer people on the guided docent tours, but you have to beat teh school-kid fieldtrip rush, as these louder groups will often scare away much of the other wildlife on the trails like birds of prey and other little critters. Also, the smaller your group, the more likely the guides will take you close to the seals.
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January 17, 2007
Ele-Facts: Elephant Seal Mating Season
For the past three years, I have been visiting an elephant seal colony during mating season. Once a week, I hike out to Año Nuevo reserve, one of the largest and most successful mainland elephant seal rookeries. Despite my many trips, I still learn something new each and everytime I go.
Right now the big males have hauled out on the beaches, and begun to establish their dominance heirarchy. Very plump and pregnant females are hauling out and choosing a harem to join, granting the alpha male who lords over it prime mating rights with her when her pup is weaned in a month or so.
Over the next few weeks, I will share some of my findings here. in this Ele-Facts column. These are tidbits of information I have learned during my visits and my own research. While I've called this column Ele-Facts, please keep in mind that I cannot back up everything, as information changes and is updated frequently in the docent-lead walks. When I can, I will point out sources online, but keep in mind that some of this information comes directly from the latest information available from researchers, through the docents, and from there to me. From there, it's often memory until I get home to blog about it. Just keep that in mind when you're considering quoting me for your science reports, little ones...
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