Christine Heinrichs
christineheinrichs.bsky.social
Christine Heinrichs
@christineheinrichs.bsky.social
Here’s this morning’s King Tide at Piedras Blancas. Sunny. The juvenile seals are okay with being tossed around in the surf. They have migrated at least once and are comfortable under water. Seal pups who will be born in December and January can’t swim, and may drown.
🦊 🦭#MarineMammal
November 6, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Beach panorama of extreme low tide at the Piedras Blancas elephant seal viewpoint, north beach.
🦭🦊 #MarineMammal
November 6, 2025 at 2:12 AM
This sweet young elephant seal, possibly a female, makes her way through the much larger males around her. Notice the cookie cutter shark wound on her side, and the scars on the larger males around she moves over. Cookie cutter sharks leave that distinctive circular wound.
🦊🦭 #MarineMammal
November 1, 2025 at 10:22 PM
These young bulls decide on a three-way fight. Whiling away the afternoon at the beach.
🦊🦭#MarineMammal
October 14, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Thousands of pelicans and gulls joined the seals on the beach.
🦊🦭 #MarineMammal
September 27, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Two young male elephant seals surf into the beach for the fall haulout. Juvenile seals, those not yet in the breeding population, take a few weeks test on the beach between September and November. The last mature bull left the beach at Piedras Blancas yesterday.
🦊🦭#MarineMammal
September 1, 2025 at 8:44 PM
These two young males, about six years old judging from the development of their noses, tussle until they annoy their mature cousin. The bull moves on to rest in the lagoon. From Arroyo del Corral, north of Piedras Blancas.
August 30, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Lazy days of summer! Beach action high points are raising a front flipper to cool off, stretching back flippers, and tossing sand.

One bull still has his brown skin and fur. All the rest have molted to gray. The gray color will turn brown as the hairs grow out and stand up.
🦊🦭
#MarineMammals
August 17, 2025 at 4:27 PM
This young elephant seal, probably one of last breeding season’s pups, follows a bull up the beach. The others are staying cool at the water’s edge. Raised flippers help them cool off. At the end, a bull out of the picture vocalizes. He stayed in the water, seen and heard. 🦊🦭#MarineMammals
August 9, 2025 at 5:09 AM
These young bulls are mixing it up on a holiday weekend.
July 8, 2025 at 7:09 PM
This five-year-old finds his way to an open place on the beach, while the older bulls ignore him and toss sand on their backs. The sand is full of bits of shed skin. The ground squirrels eat some of it.
June 30, 2025 at 11:09 PM