Barbary Coast Newsletter
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In case you don't live in Santa Rosa and read their fish wrap, the Press Democrat, here's an article I ran across from May 1st that I thought was pretty interesing. If you don't happen to find it interesting, send me something for the June newsletter and I'll be sure to include it , hint-hint (... and no Carol and Curt this doesn't mean you, you're more than doing your share) - thank you, the editor
Battle of the Beach
By CAROL BENFELL
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Elephant seals appear to be trying to displace harbor seals from Russian River's mouth.
Elephant seals may be on the verge of moving onto the beaches near Jenner, displacing the harbor seals that have been hauling out there to bear their young for nearly 30 years.
Volunteers and researchers are seeing elephant seals regularly now, and the animals have begun acting aggressively toward the smaller seals.
Also for the first time, this year two elephant seals have taken up residence at Goat Rock Beach, albeit during different months.
That behavior is typical when elephant seals begin to establish a new colony, said Joe Mortenson, who tracks seals for the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association, a nonprofit organization allied with the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.
Northern
Elephant Seals
"It's quite possible the elephant seals could colonize the beach at Jenner," Mortenson said. "It's all changing, and it's all amazing." It's bad news for harbor seals, who find Goat Rock Beach an ideal place to bear their young. But it's a success story for the elephant seals, whose population had dropped below 100 by 1910 because of overhunting. Their population along California and Baja California is estimated at 150,000.
Harbor
Seals
Many marine mammals hunted for fur or blubber in the 19th century are still rebuilding their populations and moving back into their former territories, Mortenson said.
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Sea lions were the first to arrive at Goat Rock Beach, in about 1972. Harbor seals followed in 1974, and in 1975 the sea lions left and harbor seals remained in control of the territory.
Now a third wave of pinnipeds may be about to arrive.
Elephant seals, which can reach 14 feet and weigh 4,500 pounds, have had a large colony at Point Reyes for the past 20 years.
Big-ass
male Northern Elephant Seal doing a Tarzan yell (beach unknown)...
They were seen only rarely near Jenner until the mid-1990s, when sightings became more common. But in the past two years, a male elephant seal has taken up residence for months at a time and attempted to mate with female harbor seals (ouch! - the editor), crushing them. That action is often a precursor to colonization, Mortenson said.
"That sounds like what's happening at Jenner," he said.
The elephant seal intrusion has had a dramatic effect on the harbor seal colony.
Last year, the harbor seals tolerated the elephant seal, which arrived in late December, until he killed one of them in mid-January, said Elinor Twohy, a Jenner resident who has been keeping daily records of seal populations and activity since 1991. Most of the harbor seals immediately left the area, although some stayed on neighboring rocks. They returned in March, after the elephant seal left, but in diminished numbers, Twohy said.
This year, a male elephant seal -- perhaps the same one -- arrived again in late December and was tolerated until Feb.17, when he killed an adult harbor seal and crushed a pup.
Harbor
Seal
This time, the entire colony, which usually numbers from 200 to 300 seals, vanished. The seals scattered to several beaches, up the Russian River and on the coast. Not a single harbor seal remained on the beach for two months, during what is usually the peak period for seals, Mortenson said.
"There was a complete exodus. It was a dramatic and unprecedented haul-out," Twohy said.
The harbor seals began trickling back March 24, a day after the elephant seal left, and have begun giving birth to their pups.
Northern
Elephant Seal Family
A second elephant seal has now arrived, but he is an immature male, who has not caused trouble and the beach is currently calm, Twohy said.
The potential for an elephant seal takeover of Goat Rock Beach is causing considerable discussion among researchers at Point Reyes National Seashore and volunteers for Stewards of Slavianka, a nonprofit group that protects seals during the pupping season.
Neither state parks officials nor the volunteers intend to interfere with the natural course of affairs, nor could they, because of laws protecting marine mammals. But Stewards of Slavianka may find its duties heightened if seals disperse to other beaches.
The volunteers currently guard the mothers and young seals on weekends from March 1 though Labor Day to protect them from curious humans and dogs.
If the seals move to more beaches, more volunteers will be needed, said Michele Luna, executive director.
Harbor
Seal
"This year the harbor seals started to spread away, in many coves along the Sonoma Coast. Protecting them would become much more of a challenge to our organization," Luna said.
Elephant seals also pose much more of a hazard to humans than the harbor seals. "Harbor seals will run away, but elephant seals are way bigger and they can move very rapidly," Mortenson said.
updated 5/15/03