Saturday, November 16, 2013

Año Nuevo State Park

In early November, we visited Año Nuevo State Park, about 15 miles north of Santa Cruz with the fabulous Kay Todd.




Año Nuevo Island is home to elephant seals who return to this island twice a year.

 We were in luck, it was the season for the "juvenile haul out" of the resident elephant seals. After about a 2 mile hike in along the coast, we saw hundreds of elephant seals.










During this time, juvenile males play in shows of dominance.






Most of the times, the seals bask in the sun, using their flippers to throw sands on themselves, in an effort to cool off.










A beautiful hike!








This is a 5-ton piece of wreckage from one of the many ships that have crashed along these shores.




A great trip for any future visitors to the Bay Area!