Evento

Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Elephant Seals -- Tim Bridwell

Thursday, January 12, 2023 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

San Simeon, CA

$5 for LLCC members, $10 for non-members

Visit the Piedras Blancas Rookery where the Friends of the Elephant Seals will offer a lecture and viewing of these exciting animals.

The northern elephant seal, Mirounga angustirostris, is an extraordinary marine mammal. It spends eight to ten months a year in the open ocean, diving 1000 to 5800 feet deep for periods of fifteen minutes to two hours, and migrating thousands of miles, twice a year, to its land-based rookery for birthing, breeding, molting, and rest. Piedras Blancas is a great place to view these remarkable creatures during their time onshore.

Participants will enjoy a lecture accompanied by a PowerPoint and Video electronic presentation at the Visitor Center for the Northern Elephant Seal at the Cavalier Plaza in San Simeon. This will be led by a veteran docent and guide for the Friends of the Elephant Seal. The lesson covers the history of the rookery and the various seasons of behavior of the seals. Following this presentation, participants will caravan 8 miles to the north where the Piedras Blancas Rookery is located. Participants will be grouped into approximately 10-13 persons each and accompanied by a dedicated veteran docent and guide where they will observe various seals in their native habitat. The timing of this course coincides with the start of the birthing and breeding season for the seals where occasional births occur and also includes adult males aggressively seeking dominance of the beach.

Your primary instructor Tim Bridwell has studied the Northern Elephant Seals for eight years and has spent 4,500 hours actively educating visitors and students to this marine mammal.

Perhaps you will want to make a day of it by having lunch on the North Coast and then by visiting another lookout point where you can see more seals or a stop at the Lighthouse.

If you would like to have the password for the member price for this course, go to www.lifelearnerscc.org for information on how you can become a member.