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We can all use some good news these days, so I’m happy to report that the northern elephant seal, which was declared extinct in the 1880s, seems to be making a remarkable recovery. Today, colonies of these massive marine mammals can be seen at several locations on the California coast, including at Año Nuevo State Park south of Half Moon Bay.
Northern elephant seals are huge – the males can grow to 16 feet long and weigh 5,000 pounds, while the smaller females can reach 12 feet long and weigh 2,000 pounds. At Año Nuevo, the breeding season begins in December, and by late March, most of the adults are gone, leaving the pups to continue the growth fueled by their mothers’ incredibly rich milk (which is 55% fat). By late April, the pups have mostly learned to swim and departed to sea. However, adults return to molt over the summer, so Año Nuevo’s beaches are rarely entirely deserted.
Why did elephant seals almost die out? The story can be summed up in one word: blubber.
Elephant seals spend nearly their whole lives in chilly ocean waters, and while some other marine mammals (such as sea otters) have furry, waterproof pelts, seals rely on their thick layer of fatty blubber to keep warm. Unfortunately for the seals, blubber was coveted in the 18th and 19th centuries to burn in lamps and in some manufacturing processes. Whales were the first animals hunted for their blubber, but hunters soon discovered that seals were rich sources of blubber as well. According to the National Park Service, commercial hunting of northern elephant seals along the Pacific coastline began in 1846, and was so devastating to seal populations that in just 15 years, hunters could not even make a living. Between 1884 and 1892, not a single elephant seal was seen anywhere and they were thought to be extinct. An expedition from the Smithsonian Museum then discovered a tiny colony of eight seals off the coast of Mexico, and proceeded to kill most of them to preserve them as stuffed museum specimens.
It wasn’t until 1922 that the first attempts at protecting elephant seals occurred, with the government of Mexico leading the way with a ban on hunting. The United States followed suit a few years later, and seal populations began to recover. It’s questionable, however, whether the bans only occurred because the demand for blubber by that time had died out, with fossil fuels replacing animal-derived fuels for energy use. In other words, the hunting bans may have been superfluous – if seal hunting had still been a lucrative trade, the bans would have been difficult to enforce and could well have been largely ignored.
In any case, the end of hunting came just in time for the elephant seals. It’s estimated that all of today’s approximately 150,000 northern elephant seals are descended from a tiny remnant of about 100 survivors. This means that today’s seal population is severely lacking in genetic diversity, making them more vulnerable to disease and medical issues than most species. Climate change also poses a threat to elephant seals – rising seas and fiercer storms may wash away the beaches elephant seals need to mate, give birth and molt.
To catch a glimpse of this conservation success story, check out Año Nuevo State Park’s website for seal viewing seasons. Go check out the amazing elephant seals!
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