California – Page 3

Mirounga angustirostris

California, Ocean, Photography, Wildlife

More commonly known as the Northern Elephant Seal. Elephant seals get their name from their huge size (Male’s can get up to 5,000 pounds) and from the male’s large proboscis, which is used in making extremely loud snorting noises during the mating season. A successful bull is able to impregnate up to 50 females in one season. I’m impressed. Click on link for seal sounds Seal Sounds Post

Females grow up to 1,700 pounds. A pregnant female spends 7 to 8 months at sea and then comes back to land to give birth. While nursing and weening her pup, she will lose up to 40% of her body weight.

Pups weigh between 60 and 80 pounds at birth and after weening for 1 month, weigh up to 350 pounds. Quite a growth spurt!

Question! What do you call a breeding colony of seals? Answer below.

Elephant seals at Piedras Blancas, along California’s Central Coast.

That’s quite a proboscis you have there.

Elephant seals flip sand on their backs to keep cool. This is a cool looking seal!

Couldn’t quite figure out why seagulls were hanging around seals

Answer to question above. A breeding colony of seals is referred to as a rookery. Nesting birds also use this term.

Sounds Of The Elephant Seals

California, Photography, video, Wildlife

This video really captures the sounds of elephant seals, especially from the females when they feel their pups are threatened.

Don Quixote’s Modern Day Nemesis.

California, Humor

Don Quixote battles windmills because he believes that they are menacing giants. He feels that after defeating them, he will be able to call himself a true knight.

Don’t think he can take on these modern day wind turbines. Too high tech. You can only fight these with lasers. These wind turbines are located in the Tehachapi Mountains of California.

Sights and Sounds Of A California Beach

California, Ocean, Photography, video

Can’t get to the ocean anytime soon? Well, I’ve brought the Pacific Ocean to you. The sights and sounds are truly mesmerizing.

And here’s another one.

Carpobrotus edulis

California, Flowers, Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Seasons

That is the Latin name for the oceanside vegetation called Ice Plant. Ice Plant is an invasive succulent that was imported from South Africa to California during the early 1900s for coastal erosion management.

Ice Plant turns red and orange in fall and winter.

The plant grows in a thick and dense mat-like way. Its thick succulent stems grow horizontally and curve upwards. Flowers generally appear in late winter to spring and can be yellow, pink, and purple. The ice plant’s fruit appears once the flower dies back and is edible. The fruit is yellow and fleshy when ripe and resembles a fig or spinning top.