Elephant Seals of Central California

PezpixPezpix Registered Users Posts: 391 Major grins
edited June 13, 2006 in Wildlife
Been spending some time researching and observing the post-haul of the Elephant Seals along the Big Sur coast this spring and wanted to share a few of the pictures of these marvelous creatures. Just be glad that photography hasnt advanced to the level of "smell-o-vision" quite yet as these guys are quite pungent! :thumb

Most of the males have gone to sea for the summer and the young juvenile males and females are currently along the coast for their molting season.

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I have many, many more here if you would like to see more elephant seal action :thumb

http://www.pezpix.com/gallery/1539918/1
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Comments

  • ehughesehughes Registered Users Posts: 1,675 Major grins
    edited June 12, 2006
    Very cool shotsthumb.gif , I love going out to watch these guys... And you couldn't be more right about the smell...
    Ed

    www.edhughesphoto.com
  • Dick on ArubaDick on Aruba Registered Users Posts: 3,484 Major grins
    edited June 12, 2006
    Very nice and well exposed series. Good work!

    Thanks for sharing.

    Dick.
    "Nothing sharpens sight like envy."
    Thomas Fuller.

    SmugMug account.
    Website.
  • riddim_makerriddim_maker Registered Users Posts: 1,835 Major grins
    edited June 12, 2006
    Great captures, all of them. although #5 is my favorite in terms of composition clap.gifclap.gifclap.gif
    Russ
  • raptorcaptorraptorcaptor Registered Users Posts: 3,968 Major grins
    edited June 12, 2006
    Nice sharp detail! Good series. clap.gif
    Glenn

    My website | NANPA Member
  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited June 12, 2006
    Really nice series! thumb.gif I love these big critters. They all look so happy in your shots. Even the two males sparring look like they're smiling at each other. 10 seconds later there was probably bloodshed. :uhoh

    Great work!

    -joel
    Moderator of Landscapes forum
    Link to my Smugmug site
  • HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited June 13, 2006
    Outstanding series clap.gif Every shot is a winner.
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
  • PezpixPezpix Registered Users Posts: 391 Major grins
    edited June 13, 2006
    Thanks for the kind words everyone! thumb.gif
    The hard part about photographing these clowns is the fact that they sleep quite a bit in the middle of the day so, the best time to catch them is at sunrise/sunset which makes for a tougher shoot since I have to back the ISO down to 400 or lower and hope to keep the shutter speed around 1/800th of a second at f4 in low light.
    Why is it that a 3 ton mammal cant be calm enough to pose for just two seconds for us in the wild? The nerve! :D

    Ehughes, the wife and I had a chance to peruse through your galleries this weekend. You've got some fantastic stuff!

    Here's a couple more of our stinky, molting, bratty friends.
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  • DeeDee Registered Users Posts: 2,981 Major grins
    edited June 13, 2006
    Gads, that's some molting going on
    These animals are NOT that easy to get good photos of. It's all in the lighting, and you've managed to get it at the right time.

    Probably helps to have a good zoom too! Anyway, these photos are great!
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