The Seals Of San Simeon California

Edwin Marcow · Issue 3, Dec 2001 · pp. 34–35

Products mentioned: Nikon 801, Kodak Ektachrome SV 100

The sky was dark and threatening, black clouds hung on the horizon menacingly. The air was charged, as if something was about to happen. The male bulls appeared excitable, their grotesque bulbous shapes dotted the shore like a Manhattan skyline. The stage was set for battle, like giants of Greek mythology who had been asleep for aeons and were slow to anger, but whose wrath was violent and vindictive. So the male elephant seals, squared up to each other as Gladiators. The male bulls weigh up to 2,300 kg and grow to a length of 4.5metres.They have large, imposing tusks that can inflict fatal wounds on a lesser opponent and with their pronounced proboscis they are a very imposing sight to behold. Papa Bear , as Andrea liked to call him, was such an imposing sight. He was the alpha male and he had a lot to defend. He had the prize of a large colony of females, who were sure to pass his line…