The remarkable life cycle of the Northern elephant seal plays out in plain sight on a beach on the central coast of California. Thousands of elephant seals flock to the Piedras Blancas rookery (San Simeon, California) every year in December and early January for the birthing and mating season.
Large male elephant bulls arrive first and battle for dominance over pupping areas. When the females arrive, they often give birth within days and nurse the newborn pup constantly for at least a month, tripling the pups weight, to as much as 300 lbs. The males pursue the female elephant seals, sometimes trampling the newborn pups. Female adult seals, when approached by the males, may stray far from the newborns and become separated.
This is the story of Elmo, a tiny newborn elephant seal pup who has lost his mother on the beach in the Piedras Blancas rookery. How Elmo finds his mother is key to his survival.
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KC Joined: Dec-30-2016 |
Kathleen A. Curtis, PT, Ph.D. is Professor Emerita, California State University, Fresno and a former dean and professor at the University of Texas at El Paso. She received her Ph.D. in Education from UCLA. She is an established educator, researcher, administrator and well-known author in the health and rehabilitation science field. She lives on the central California coast and is passionate about marine mammal conservation and restoring the health of our ocean environment.
