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Sonoma Co. Elephant Seal's Rampage - from various articles

Warning signs have gone up on beaches near Jenner, and officials cautioned the public Monday not to swim or wade in the estuary waters around Goat Rock Beach or approach the big seal should they see him basking in the sun. Sometime in late March, "Nibbles" --a 2,500 lb. elephant seal living on the Sonoma Coast in Northern California-- snapped. In the ensuing month, the adolescent seal has bitten a surfer and a pet pit bull, attacked a kayaker and killed a number of harbor seals (12 according to a park ranger), apparently crushing the skulls of the females and disemboweling the males.

On Easter, he attacked an 80-lb. pit bull, a 10-year-old female named Sativa, while the dog was being walked on a beach below River's End Restaurant & Inn in Jenner. Angel Garcia, exercising the dog for a friend, was tossing a stick in the water for it to retrieve. "I saw the elephant seal come out of the water like a torpedo, angle down on the dog and land on him," said Lowrey. "Somehow the dog wriggled out and turned and squared off with the seal." Garcia then escaped with the dog, which suffered a puncture wound the diameter of a quarter in one thigh. It's been noted that the person whose dog was attacked was able to get the massive animal to back down, a testament to the general docility of the species.

On Tuesday, Nibbles growled at a kayaker, scaring him out of the water, said Suki Waters of Water Treks, a kayaking tour company.

Surf shop worker Craig Henderson said the seal and local surfers share the same turf. “It is scary when he jumps in the water with you. He is huge, like a VW bug or something,” he said.

Some possible reasons are based in his species' natural history. Elephant seal bulls compete for territory on rookeries during the breeding season. At 2,000 pounds Nibbles is probably 4 or 5 years old, which is just at the edge of maturity. But he will not reach prime breeding condition until he is 8 or 9 years old. One possible explanation for his behavior is that he is practicing for the time when he is ready to compete for territory.

However, there is disagreement .Suggestions that he is alone because he is not big enough to compete for females doesn’t make sense since northern elephant seal breeding season is over. The elephant seal rookeries on the California coast are filled right now with juveniles and will continue to be until late May. The bulls are already in the open ocean feeding, after having fasted for much of the winter while guarding their territories.

Also, in spring, young elephant seals haul out to molt. This process involves shedding the fur and upper layers of skin, during which time the animals rest on the beach without eating. Once the molt is complete the juveniles go back into the water, often spending time learning to fight with each other before leaving the haulout area to feed in the open ocean.

"It's the third time I know of that something like this has happened with elephant seal bulls in the last 10 years," said Joe Cordaro, a wildlife biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service in Long Beach. "It sometimes happens, with a young displaced bull with high testosterone levels, that they try to establish new territory and mate with whatever they come across. This does fit a certain pattern. There is no evidence yet that it is sick in any way."

Sorenson says that soon after the bull first appeared, he tried unsuccessfully to mate with the (much smaller) female harbor seals. Then, last year, after trying again to mate, he turned violent and began to kill. This year, he is staying around well past his usual departure date at the end of March, and now has started to consume his kills.

"The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 does protect this animal," said Cordaro. "But if we determine it's an anomalous threat to the public, the state park and state Fish & Game can take whatever measure they deem necessary. You hope it doesn't reach that level. But it could." They could try to harass him into leaving. Allen says daily exposure to a flapping blue tarp can sometimes do the trick. Sorenson says he is talking with the California Department of Fish and Game about using a bottle-rocket-like device with a whistle, flash and boom to make the estuary an unpleasant place for the seal to stay.

Animals that have left the rookery travel alone to the feeding grounds, so his being by himself is also not unusual, but his interaction with the other inhabitants of the area is. As is often the case when animals behave differently, it likely that no one will ever know why Nibbles is doing what he is doing.

The colonization of the Pacific Coast shoreline by northern elephant seals is a result of the demise of one its predators. "Before the time of European colonization, grizzly bears would have kept all the elephant seals in check," Allen said. "Only harbor seals would have been there. They have the instincts to take off into the water if they see a land animal appear, then come back when that animal's gone. Elephant seals don't. They confront what shows up. They are used to inhabiting islands. So it's an interesting example of what happens when an ecosystem is disrupted. Take grizzlies out of the picture, and elephant seals aren't scared off of the mainland beaches anymore."

Now the aggressor in the Russian River is an elephant seal who will stand up to other animals and even humans.

"Bottom line is, he's very dangerous," said Allen. "You wouldn't want to get bitten by one. They have huge incisors, and even a warning nip can break a human bone."

Caught On Tape:

Here's a link to an amateurs video of an attack on a harbor seal. You have to sit through an Ikea commercial first. The tape is from April 25th of this year: http://cbs5.com/pets/local_story_114124732.html