Elephant Seal Adventure

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Got up to a fairly early start to the day. Had a little toast and coffee and drove off - headed for Ano Nuevo - home of the elephant seal. Well, no sooner did I get off and going when I had to stop and see the strawberry farm! A few pictures later, and I was off again.

Drive through Santa Cruz and head to Donvan Landing ( I think) for another stop at the bakery. Saved my treats for a later snack. Then - don't you know - I find a pick your own strawberry farm, which of course meant another stop! Yummy and fresh! On my way again.

Finally made it to Ano Nuevo for some elephant seals! After a 40 minute hike over the fields and down a few sand dunes - all the while listening to the bark of the seals and sea lions from over a mile away - I made it to Bight Beach Point. Agh, the stink! :-)

Seriously - such a cool mammal. The only seals on the beaches at this time of the year are this year's pups and young males. The older males are just arriving from their bi-annual trip to the Aleutians! They are in the molting stage right now - and will eat and drink nothing while out on the beaches. The females are off on their bi-annual trek up toward the coast of Canada and then back to the California coast.

The Bight Point males were pretty tame and, well, lazy; except for one very large male who was protecting his little slice of the pool. Further up the beach at North Point the males were much more active and louder. Another 10 minute hike over to the point brought them closer. The males were "playing". It would appear that they were fighting, but it actually seems that they were "practicing" for fighting over their lady friends when the time came to do so. A 45 minute hike out and I was off again.

I finally found the artichokes! And some brussell sprouts. And then the Natural Bridges park for a quick picture before heading for an hour stroll along Moss Landing beach. Moss Landing is a paradox of a beautiful stretch of beach on one side of the highway - complete with dunes and sea lions and sea otters - and a hideous power plant on the other side.

Looking forward to a good night's rest before heading out early - no really! - for some exploration into Point Pinos tide pools!

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