Part of the series: Vancouver to the Grand Canyon and Back Again!
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| Elephant seals play fighting in the surf |
A few stops later, now starting to look for signs to Hearst Castle, we drove past a sign that we didn't quite understand - something about elephant seals, and then noticed what looked like rocks out in the surf.
Except if you watched them very closely, they were moving.
And then we turned a corner, and happened upon the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery, with elephant seals in attendance.
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| Elephant seal taking a break from walking along the beach |
There was a free parking lot and park staff available to answer any questions people had, and so we spent a while there watching the baby elephant seals playing in the surf. They stop there every year on their way up north for the summer to shed their outer skin/fur layer, and we happened along when the "babies" were still there.
If you ever get the chance to drive down the California Big Sur coast in mid- to late-May, I highly recommend stopping to see the big guys - on average about 5 m in length.
After watching them play for a while, we drove down the road to Hearst Castle.
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| ... do elephant seals growl? |
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| Apparently, squirrels are a problem for the elephant seals |
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| Crow sitting on a post |
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| Elephant seals molting before summer migration |
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