Eight miles of mating seals

What happens when three pregnant seals land on a quiet beach?

In 1991, three elephant seals landed at Pierdras Blancas, on the central coast of California, for the first time and established a colony. A protected species, there are now 22,000 mating and birthing along an 8 miles stretch of coast.

Male seal ‘laying with’ a female.

Males come back down from Alaska, fight off competitors, and establish a harem on the beach with as many females as they can impregnate. No swimming, no hunting. They just crawl on the women who are 1/10th their size, have sex such as it is, and lie there. (Comment from Dinah: It’s all a bit gross actually, although isn’t nature amazing?)

The females show up in late fall pregnant from the prior year’s orgy and start delivering kids. They nurse the kids on the beach for about 28 days. Then (probably after sex) they go swimming and forget all about the child. Actually, they may go swimming BEFORE the nursing period is up and that child is likely to die because the females seems not give a rip about their children, who will therefore die. No family values in this herd.

Screenshot

The children aren’t taught by anyone. After their mom leaves, they start to get hungry at some point and seem to think ‘heh, I’ll go in the water’. But then they have to figure out how to swim and fish and even which way Alaska is. All the while, sharks or Orcas may just take a chunk out of them. So a bunch of them die and all of 25% make it to full adulthood.

Such a life!