Año Nuevo State Recreation Reserve is located on the coast about 1½ hours drive from San Francisco. Año Nuevo Point is where elephant seals can be found. The peak times are December-March, which is the mating season. During this time, the only way to see the seals is to take a guided tour. Weekend tours can be booked out weeks before.
We had a ½ hour walk from the Visitors' Centre to a staging area. The recreation area used to be part of a
large dairy farm and the Visitors' Centre, seen in this photo, was once the barn.
The male elephant seals arrive around early December and stake out their section of the beach. Only male elephant
seals have the distinguishing "trunk".
Female elephant seals arrive later in the season to give birth to their pups. Before they return to the sea, they
will be pregnant again.
Each male commands and protects a harem of female seals.
This fight erupted between two females because one pup wandered into the wrong group of pups.
On Año Nuevo Island there used to be a light tower and residences for the families of the lighthouse keeper
and his assistant. The families had constant problems with elephant seals and sea lions coming ashore and into the
garden. (and you thought picking up after the dog was bad enough ... -
Tony)
After a fog horn was installed, the lighthouse was no longer necessary and the island was abandoned (at least by the human inhabitants). The light tower has since fallen over and wildlife has invaded the house.
Although there are other seals and sea lions in the area, only the elephant seals come ashore on the main beach. The rest are on the island.
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