Pacific Coast Trip: San Simeon

How incredible it was to see, hear, and smell so many elephant seal pups in one place! We arrived to Point Piedras Blancas (along the CA Coastal Trail at Hearst San Simeon State Park) during pup season. They were scattered all about the beach. Interpretive signs and volunteers explained these mammals arrived in 1990 with the first pup born in 1992. Now this colony is 15,000 strong. The Coastal Discovery Center down the road was a gem for information and had great interactive exhibits. So glad we spotted it from the road!

Ainsley:

Elephant seals are amazing! I went to an elephant seal rookery in San Simeon.  A rookery is a place where seals are born. The males have long noses. Elephant seals are big and long. They make loud noises.The elephant seal pups are cute and fight.

Next I went  to Coastal Discovery Center. I saw rainbow trout fish in a fish tank. I pushed buttons on a tide pool exhibit. I heard about coral, crabs, sea snails, sea anemones, sea stars, and kelp. I learned the sea anemones are upside down jellyfish that don’t hurt you. I also saw a microscope that showed me plankton. Each one was extremely small; I could barely see it in the tube. Good thing we had a microscope! Next to the microscope were blocks showing the food chain. Plankton was at the very botton while Orcas were on the top. This means that Orcas eat everything on the food chain. The man said if you swallow the water, you might eat plankton. Ew, that’s disgusting!

I’m glad I got to see some elephant seals!

Travis:

Today I went to San Simeon rookerey. There was a ton of elephant seals! They make the funniest noises. Here are some examples: Hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooonnnnk! And Whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrr!  Two of the seal pups were fighting! One of them just stared at the other and screamed! Did you know that with all their big bodies they are actually  prey to sharks and orcas? The seal males were big and fat. Elephant seals don’t eat anything while on the beach!  The Elephant seals are big and funny, but are really interesting. I also saw a whale spout! The whales were migrating north to Alaska.

I also went to the Coastal Discovery Center. I saw a big pot that would be used by whalers to turn blubber to oil. I touched some baleen from a gray whale, that’s their teeth. I also saw three movies about a sea mountain and two shipwrecks. There was a thing where you could hear what elephant seals sounded like. There was also a microscope showing what’s in a drop of seawater. I also saw what the place looked way back when there was Indians and Spanish explorers. I had a lot of fun. I wish I could see the elephant seals again.