Ok - as promised, more marine mammals. Unfortunately, these aren't nearly as cute as the sea otters from the other day. Again, to get through all of these photos, I'm just going to post another assortment (plus I'm having a difficult time choosing just one or two to share) - so just mouse-over the thumbnails to see the larger version.

These elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) are mostly males and pups. Apparently the females had already left the area. They return to this one cove in California (just up the road from Hearst Castle every year. The males - which get the long noses which give rise to the name - can grow to be 16 feet in length, and weigh over 6000 lbs. They can also dive to depths ranging in the thousands of feet (usually averaging around 1000 - 2500 feet) and can hold their breath for up to 100 minutes at a time. During breeding season, you would never see males together on a beach like this because they become fiercely territorial and fight (note all the scars on their heads and necks).

... but like I said, they're not very cute... oh, and they are moulting at this time of the year too which certainly doesn't make them any prettier...

As with the outdoor shots at Hearst Castle, the lighting wasn't exactly ideal. In this case, the sun was on the other side of the seals from where we were, which caused a lot of poorly places shadows. It was also ridiculously windy, and there was sand whipping around everywhere - which not only is bad for the camera, but also caused a kind of dusty haze in most of the shots.

However, I was glad that I had lugged my Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM long telephoto lens with me on the trip as after I took a few shots with the Tamron 70-300 and wasn't getting as close as I would have liked, I went back to the car and pulled out the big gun so to speak, as well as the tripod.

It definitely helped make better photos of these ugly beasties....

Then again, the pups are kind of cute...

I really love that third shot there with the pup almost completely buried in the sand. Between them throwing sand on their backs (to protect their skin from sunburn as well as flies) and the wind, this little fella was almost completely hidden in the sand.

Anyway, after this, we continued driving up the coast on Highway 1 which is a beautiful road (and fun as all heck to drive!). We tried finding the classic view of Big Sur, but unfortunately, the coast was socked in with fog and I didn't get many good shots (I guess we'll have to go back and try again sometime). So we'll be jumping right along into the Monetery Bay Aquarium next!!!

Stay tuned.

- Bill