Click on the following links to find out more about viewing opportunities for these species and to learn about their habitats and behaviors:. After being absent for more than years, northern elephant seals returned to sandy pocket beaches on the south side of the Point Reyes Headlands in the early s. In , the first breeding pair was discovered near Chimney Rock. Fanning out from their initial secluded south-facing beaches of the headlands, the seals have since expanded to beaches which are not as remote, including, after , Drakes Beach adjacent to the Kenneth C.
Patrick Visitor Center. While some elephant seals may be present at Point Reyes on any given day of the year, the greatest number of seals haul out on beaches around the headlands from December through March for the birthing and mating season, and in the spring when adult females and juveniles haul out to molt.
Visitors may observe a colony of elephant seals from the Elephant Seal Overlook near Chimney Rock , above beautiful Drakes Bay, or from the South Beach Overlook a short distance north of the Point Reyes Lighthouse visitors' parking lot. And, since , visitors are also able to view a colony on the beach adjacent to the Kenneth C. The males are the first to arrive here, in December, in an effort to stake out a claim on the beach they hope to dominate.
Then pregnant females begin to arrive and, soon thereafter, give birth to a single pup. The southwest Drakes Beach colony, which can be viewed from the Elephant Seal Overlook, can number over animals by early February. Top of Page. From the Elephant Seal Overlook, you can witness the fascinating behavior of these animals, including male dominance contests, birthing of pups, and the interactions of mothers and pups.
You will hear the distinctive vocalizations of females and pups, as well as the powerful trumpeting of the adult males referred to as "bulls" , which can be heard for over a mile. After a month of nursing, female elephant seals will wean their pups and head back out to sea for a month or two of feeding to replenish deleted energy reserves, leaving the weaned pups "weanlings" or "weaners" to survive on their own.
