Spotting elephant seals at SLO County beaches? Try a game of tag
.JPG "This elephant seal’s scar shows how her head was nearly bitten off by a shark.")
Thousands of seals are on the beach at Piedras Blancas now. The beach near San Simeon is crowded, but there’s plenty of space along the boardwalk for visitors to be socially distant.
In May, it’s all adult females and young seals, both male and female. They are on the beach to molt their skin.
This annual event gives them new skin to face the coming year. You can see the difference between the old, brown skin and the pearly gray new skin.
As the hairs grow, their appearance will go back to shades of brown.
Elephant seals sport flipper tags
For the astute observer, this is a good time to look for flipper tags. Some of the seals have a color-coded tag on their hind flippers that indicates where they were born. Re-sighting the tags helps researchers figure out where seals go.
About three quarters of the seals return to the beach where they were born.
About 10% of Piedras Blancas seal pups get a white tag. All colors of tags show up here.
The tags are small, only an inch and a half long, and can’t be seen when the flippers are folded, as they usually are when the seals are at rest. Look for a seal stretching its flippers to see a white, red (San Nicolas Island,) yellow (San Miguel Island), pink (Farallones Islands and Point Reyes), purple (Gorda) or green (Ano Nuevo) tag.
Although it’s difficult to read the tags, photos displayed on a computer screen sometimes reveal the numbers.
Take a picture and see if you can decipher the number. If you can, contact Friends of the Elephant Seal, fes@elephantseal.org, for instructions on how to submit it to the research team.
Markings and tags allow researchers to glean information about where the seals go and what they are doing there. Citizen scientists who see markings help by reporting sightings.
Shark attack scars
May is also a good time to examine the seals for unusual scars. The molting skin pulls away from scars and body openings first, so scars are visible.
Sharks typically attack and bite, then wait until the prey is weakened by blood loss to go back and consume it.
Some seals have numerous scars from attacks by cookie cutter sharks. That’s a small shark, about two feet long, that may travel in schools.
Virtual field trips
Friends of the Elephant Seal docents are not greeting bluff visitors during the coronavirus pandemic. They are taking advantage of the downtime to make videos for the general public, with special attention to education.
Four virtual field trips are available on the FES YouTube channel at youtube.com/channel/UCiwAct6MquO7RhygMVtnjIw.
They can also be viewed at youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0SdAbDXBm9F1sA2oI7Cy1eq-cHhysz1C.