Seal at sunrise

I backblipped to show the start of our Point Reyes camping trip (yesterday).

When we arrived, there was a sickly-looking seal on the beach near Coast Camp. We hiked to the nearest payphone (no cellphone service here) to report it to the Marine Mammal Center. What we found out is that this time of year, elephant seals molt, and most likely this is a juvenile elephant seal taking a rest. There were bloody spots on his neck, which could have been due to the molting, or he may have fought with another seal. These seals are fierce: during mating season, the males have vicious battles for the females, and the winners enjoy the season with a harem while the losers lie on the beach waiting for their wounds to heal.

Either way, this seal spent Friday and Saturday on the beach, probably thinking he'd found an isolated spot, not realizing it was the end of a trailhead which would bring many concerned humans to his side.

Shortly after this photo, he disappeared into the ocean.