(no subject)

[ladyravenwood]

Yesterday, I took Katja and Lonnie to see the elephant seals at Ano Nuevo. We took a tour out to the pupping/breeding grounds. It is aproximately a mile and a half hike out to the beach where the animals are usually located. There were fewer animals than there would have been earlier in the season and most of the major activity had come to pass. We saw one harem with an absolutely enourmous male. Two months ago, he would have been even larger, by this time, he had lost nearly 40% of his total body weight. He was still impressive. There only a few females left. Most have already returned to the sea. After weaning their pups they mate again and go to sea to feed after fasting for months. They will carry the males' sperm inside them for several more months before actually becoming pregnant. The majority of the animals at Ano now are juveniles or recenlty weaned pups. Their mothers nurse them for about two months and then they are abandoned. Most look robust and healthy enough to survive, we did see one that was doomed. He/she was grossly underweight and would probably never make it to the ocean. The mortality rate for young elephant seals is very high. I think the docent said 60% do not survive. They are such amazing animals but they have such a harsh existence. It takes everything they have to survive.
I was pleasantly surprised to see a large population of ravens at Ano. I did not see any the last time I was there and, actually, was not aware that they inhabited the area at all. They were so amazing. It was the first time I had ever seen them live in the wild. Hopefully some of the pictures I tried to take of them came out ok. I want to go back with some black and white and try to capture some more images. My tattoo definitly is a raven.