About 4 miles north of San Simeon a stretch of the beach along famous Highway 1 is occupied by a large colony of elephant seals. They lie lazily on the beach unperturbed by tourists’ chatter and camera clicks. It is such a treat to see these amazing animals in their natural habitat, so if you are driving by make sure to stop.
Elephant seals spend about 10 months of the year out in the ocean, they arrive to the rookery in December for birthing and breeding and after a few weeks head back to the water, migrating both north towards Alaska, and out west into the Pacific. They also come back to shore from late spring to summer when they undergo a drastic shedding.
For a long time they were hunted for their oil rich blubber almost to the point of extinction, however they are now a protected species, at least while in US waters, under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
On this latest trip I had another wildlife sighting in the area, just south of Hearst Castle there were a bunch of zebras grazing together with the cows. Check out the pics, they were so beautiful!
