Elephant seal pups are back at the beach. Here’s where to see them in SLO County
Hundreds of elephant seals lounged in the sunshine on a San Simeon beach on Thursday, occasionally rousing from their naps to toss sand on themselves or bark at passing tourists.
Those who looked closely may have also noticed a handful of newborn pups rolling around the sand.
Every year, more than 5,000 pups are born at the Piedras Blancas rookery from mid-December to early February, according to Christine Heinrichs, who is a docent for the nonprofit Friends of the Elephant Seal and writes a column for The Tribune.
Winter, the first pup of the season, was born on Dec. 8, Heinrichs said in her most recent column.
At birth, elephant seal pups weigh about 70 pounds and are about 3 feet long. At Piedras Blancas, 90% of the pups survive their three-month youth and make their journey to the ocean, she wrote.
Pregnant seals arrived on the beach in December, according to the Friends of the Elephant Seal website. A mother seal is likely to give birth when she digs a “saddle” in the sand, “by tossing a lot of sand on both sides,” Heinrichs wrote.
“As soon as a pup is born, gulls screech and swoop around to consume the afterbirth. They are the beach clean-up crew,” she wrote in her column.
The mothers lose about a third of their body weight during nursing, as they don’t return to the ocean while taking care of their pups, Heinrichs said.
Finally, after about five weeks, the mothers return to the sea — leaving the pups to survive on their blubber for about three months before they take their first journey into the ocean.
Where to see the elephant seals
You can spot the elephant seals lounging on the sand at the Piedras Blancas Seal Rookery, an 8-mile stretch of coastline on either side of Point Piedras Blancas near San Simeon.
Walking on the beach is off-limits, but the Elephant Seal Vista Point off of Highway 1 offers boardwalks and benches with good views of the giant marine mammals. The viewing area is 1.5 miles south of Point Piedras Blancas and 4 miles north of Hearst Castle.
The vista point is open every day from sunrise to sunset, and it includes a parking lot and wheelchair-accessible viewing platform.
You can also check out the Elephant Seal Visitor Center, which is located at 250 San Simeon Ave. in Suite 5A.
Elephant seals are protected by state and federal laws, so viewers should stay 50 to 100 feet away from the behemoths..
Drones are prohibited at the beach, and dogs must remain on a leash and away from the seals.
If you see someone harassing an elephant seal, call the California State Parks dispatch service at 805-927-2068.
If you’re not able to travel to the beach, you can watch the elephant seals on a live webcam at elephantseal.org/live-view/.
This story was originally published January 1, 2025 at 10:00 AM.
