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Wednesday 23 July 2008

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Clemency Burton-Hill

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Seals of Approval

Andrew Curry

Wednesday, 5th March 2008

Andrew Curry watches seals on the Pacific coast

Even before I crest the sand dune, I can hear their growling roars over the noise of the Pacific surf. The sound is something like an idly revving motorcycle badly in need of a visit to the mechanic. When I reach the top of the dune, I see two huge, rippling sacks of fat facing each other looking a bit like giant slugs, and as I watch they arch up to their full heights, bulbous noses swinging. Then the battle begins in earnest. The two testosterone-crazed male seals crash their bodies together and tear at each other over and over with sharp canine tusks. Blood quickly coats their broad chests and tints the surf pink.

The fight takes just a few minutes. The winner resumes his spot amid the dozens of female seals in his harem. The loser, vanquished, lies in the crashing surf for a while, before swimming a short way down the beach. He’ll likely rest a bit before taking another shot somewhere else.

These are elephant seals, the California coast’s most curious wild attraction. From mid-December until early March, thousands of seals the size of SUVs arrive at publicly accessible beaches just an hour south of San Francisco to fight and fornicate. Named for the large, dangling noses of the males (for seals, it seems, size does matter), elephant seals spend most of their lives at sea, coming ashore only to mate, give birth and shed their skin.

At over 4,500lb, elephant seals are the largest land-going mammals after elephants — almost twice as big as a walrus, and not nearly as cute. Nor are they particularly good at getting about on land. They flop up on to a select few beaches in California each winter, for a three-month blubbery, violent orgy.

It is a bright morning in January when I drive over the Santa Cruz mountains and down to the Pacific to see these beasts for myself. Año Nuevo, the largest mainland seal rookery in America, is nestled on a rocky point just an hour south of San Francisco. The beach is part of a state park that sprawls for miles along some of California’s most scenic coastline, sandwiched between the legendary Highway 1 and the sea.

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