Elephant seals at Año Nuevo

Monique, Jeff Harm, and I went down to Año Nuevo State Park on Monday, Feb. 22, and took the guided hike and tour of the elephant seal colony, which is just past the peak of breeding season. If elephant seals seem familiar, gentle reader, it may be because we visited a colony farther south along the California coast a few years ago:

Patio Boat Blog: Feb. 23, 2009: Vacation Pictures, Part 2, Elephant Seals in San Simeon

I won't pile too many details about the elephant seal on this blog post. Check out the Wikipedia article if you want to know more: Elephant seal.

Año Nuevo is about 75 miles south of San Francisco. We arrived shortly after the peak of breeding season, but there was still plenty of action on the beach.

Look, action!

Action! I said, ACTION!

[Above: A "weaner." Weaners are young elephant seals that were recently weaned. They stay on the beach for a few months before learning to swim and heading out to sea.]

Okay, so there were plenty of elephant seals mostly lazing about. There was still the usual mix of fighting, breeding, and cheating on the side that makes watching an elephant seal colony the most sinful indulgence this side of Peyton Place. So without further ado, let the wild rumpus begin!

The wild rumpus begins with a little sand on the back to cool off.

The old houses for the lighthouse station. They were abandoned in the 1940s and taken over by sea lions.

Those big inert things on the beach aren't boulders. They're elephant seals. The little inert things aren't rocks. They're weaner elephant seals.

Jeff checks out the abandoned lighthouse station, "Eh, I've lived in worse."

Elephant seals as far as the eye can see.

Elephant seal bull and weaners.

Youngish bull elephant seal. As they age the snout grows longer and longer. The females don't develop the trunklike snout.

An elephant seal bull roughing up a weaner for some reason.

The speed, the grace.

Two bulls think about fighting. Then they fall back asleep.

Monique hugs a fully clad elephant seal.

Say it loud, say it proud, "I'm 5,000 pounds of blubber!"

Cute weaner.

A female checks out our tour party from the shade.

Weaner buddies.

What's that you say? You want *MORE* elephant seals? Well, here you go.

One solitary sea lion amid the elephant seals. After watching the slug-like movements of the elephant seals, this sea lion looked like a ballerina en pointe.

A bull approaches one of the females in his harem....

He offers to buy her a drink....

She invites him to come up for a cup of coffee, and....

Cue the (elephant seal) porno music.

Elephant seal bull.

The young bull on the left made a move on the female. The big bull moves in to chase him off, and....

Once again, cue the (elephant seal) porno music.

Two bulls consider fighting. They eventually decided to take a nap, instead. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along. Move along

Two young bulls on the "loser beach" -- where the non-mating males go -- get in a little fighting practice for next year. Better luck next year, guys.

Virgin Islands: "Free Monday" Kayaking

And now we come to the St. Thomas post that I probably should've posted first. But it's not really the event that was my proudest moment of the week. You see, this was the point at which I nearly let my poor mother drown while I snapped photos. (Oh, the sacrifices I make for you, gentle Patio Boat reader. Yes, lives were nearly lost, but this sort of high-quality vacation photoblogging doesn't come without its costs.)

The trouble started when they let people have free kayak rentals on Mondays at Bluebeard's Beach Club. It seemed a good idea to send my Mom out for a spin in the cove with veteran lake kayaker Monique.

Alas, there were a few problems with that plan:

1. Monique had never before kayaked in the surf.

2. Monique hadn't done a dual kayak before, so wasn't really sure how to get both of them onboard.

3. Small craft warnings that churned up a chop and surf even in our protected cove.

4. Given half a chance my Mom could tip an aircraft carrier on its side.

It all began peaceably enough:

But then disaster struck:

Here -- about where my Mom disappeared entirely beneath the surface of the sea -- this is about the point at which a better son would've set down the camera and gone to rescue his mother, who had been knocked down by the surf.

Oh, wait. There she is. And she still has her life jacket on. Okay then, I reckon I'll keep taking pictures of the event. (I suppose the upside is that if I ever some day try to get a photojournalism job and some editor asks, "What are you willing to do to photograph the story?" I can say, "I'll let my mother drown," then show this set of photos as proof.)

Fortunately, there was lots of nearby help. Half the beach ran to the rescue:

With Mom now safely rescued, Monique righted the kayak.

... and a small platoon of beachgoers helped get my Mom back on board. Full credit for bravery goes to Mom, who could've just packed it in after getting nearly drowned in the first attempt.

They're off!

And out into the deep blue sea ... well, the shallow turquoise cove, anyway. Much paddling about ensued:

Ahoy, the cruise ship! Prepare to be boarded!

Facing the looming threat of Caribbean kayak pirates the cruise ship fled for port:

... leaving our kayakers free to search for other seagoing traffic.

Other than the initial launch, a fine afternoon of kayaking.