By CARLA SWIFT
Elephant seals haul out on beaches between April and August each year to molt. This May, females and juveniles are crowding the beaches at both ends of the San Simeon viewpoint parking lot. It is a good time to identify the stories their bodies are telling.
First, a good detective will notice their outer layer of fur is peeling off – usually starting at the face. Are they sick? No. While most animals shed hair year-round, elephant seals grow new fur and shed the old just once a year. This is called a “catastrophic molt,” and they must come to the beach to do it. As one of the deepest diving mammals in the ocean, they spend most of their lives in very deep, very cold water. To conserve body heat, a dive reflex shunts blood to the center of their body. As a result, they need to come to the warm beaches where it is now safe for blood to circulate to their bodies’ outer layers to promote new skin growth. As the new skin grows in, the old layer is pushed off, and soon they are ready to return to the sea with a fresh coat.
Next, to learn to further detect the signs of their ocean adventures, including close encounters with danger, notice how some females will have small round scars on their bellies. This means they had a close encounter with cookie cutter sharks – 18-inch deepwater sharks that swim in schools and take tennis-ball-sized bites out of elephant seals. Yum – fur and blubber. Of course, great white sharks and orcas also hunt elephant seals. Encounters with these huge predators may result in large bite-shaped chest scars, missing fins, scrape marks and more.
In addition, look for interactions with humans. Some seals may have large letter-number imprints on their side. Cal Poly researchers imprint some e-seals with hair dye to help them study the seals’ behaviors. These marks are lost as the skin sheds, but for now, they tell a story. On some seals a shiny tail tag can be spotted. Numbered metal tags also help scientists track seal movements, and they will not come off in the molt. Finally, look for potentially deadly plastic or fishing line encounters, including a recently observed female with a strangulating plastic strap around her neck, the result of ubiquitous plastic waste in our oceans. It is a reminder to minimize the use plastic and to dispose of it properly.
Curious seal watchers may wonder why there no adult males here. The mature males will begin arriving in mid-June to take their turn on the beach to molt. Elephant seals have developed their own beach “time-share” system. The adult males and females will not meet up again until next year’s birthing and breeding season beginning in December.
Now is as good a time as any to visit the elephant seals just 15 minutes north of Cambria. See the stories their bodies tell, and during the visit stop to chat with elephant seal guides. Check out the Friends of the Elephant Seal Visitor Center (hours between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.) to appreciate the otter and elephant seal artifacts and admire these magnificent ocean-going friends.
