Weds, April 15, 2009 ELEPHANT SEALS AT RACE ROCKS
On the warmest day of the year passengers on Five Star Whale Watching's afternoon cruise went to Race Rocks Marine Protected Area where they saw Northern Elephant Seals and Steller Sea Lions.
The Northern Elephant Seals are only occasional visitors to Victoria, and yet on this day we saw five (5) of them. Elephant Seals can sometimes spend up to two (2) weeks almost motionless when they haul out to molt:
"Pinnipeds, like other mammals, must replace old skin and hair. Most animals shed hairs year-around, but elephant seals do it all at once. The molting process is so abrupt in the elephant seal that it is called a catastrophic molt. During the spring and summer months, elephant seals go through their annual molts."
Credit to http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=1115
Photos by Ron Bates of Marine Mammal Research Group (MMRG)
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