When does a whale-watching trip ...

without whales, still kick ass? When it becomes an amazing Elephant Seal watching expedition!!

Seriously, as a person who loves nature/ wildlife/ animal/ sea mammal viewing, today was one of the more incredible experiences of my life. The proximity was what makes it dazzling ... while still almost a 2-hour journey (including shuttle) this gathering of seals is something we can easily visit on the weekends.

The day is crystal blue from sky to ocean. We had hoped to see the migrating Gray Whales, but knew that it was best to get excited about the seals, because they were definitely going to be around ... and whales are always hit or miss. Well, we totally missed on the whales, not even a spout. But the seals knocked us out.

We heard them barking as we approached the overlook, which was easy to find since we had been there on our first full day in California. On that day, we had this for the seals; today, we had a full beach! There were docents who set up many great telescopes for our viewing pleasure. They explained many things about what we were seeing. From how the males first grabbed the territory, then set up their harem and then the babies were born. Some of the small, black pups we saw were born within the last 24 hours. (And how the Great White Sharks would time their migrating for when these pups hit the water.) I could not believe what we were witnessing and with so few other people! Anyway, I think I am going to stick to the Flickr slideshow for this trip, because again, I just can't pick a few photos to show the trip. I need to do some Flickr describing and tagging.

Anyway, we had a nice bluff picnic with plenty of frolicking. We continued to hike the area and saw the occasional few seals lounging on the beaches. The day was totally fun. The slideshow starts with shuttle pics, one of me acting out our audio tour and the other of all the cows: California cows truly look happier.