00:00Now we change topic, California's Agno Nuevo State Park opens its doors to visitors for Sea Elephant Washington, which comes to the state's coast during the mating season. Let's see more details in the following material.
00:14Each winter, from mid-December through March, thousands of northern elephant seals haul themselves up onto the sandy beaches on the San Mateo County coast to breed, give birth and compete for mates.
00:30So these are elephant seals, and it's pupping season right now, which will go from the middle of December through the end of March, and the males have the big proboscis, they've got the big noses.
00:45Adult bulls, the largest seals on the planet, can reach 14 to 16 feet in length, and weigh up to 2 tons, making them a truly imposing sight, as they battle for dominance and control of harems of females.
01:00Male elephant seals have the highest level of testosterone of any mammal, so they want to mate, fight, eat. Press repeat.
01:15The northern elephant seals' presence here today is a conservation success story.
01:20So, most elephant seals come back to the same beach where they were born, they don't all, but most of them do, and we have about 10,000 elephant seals that come to Anya Nuevo.
01:36In the 1800s, these animals were hunted so aggressively for their oil-rich blubber, that entire populations collapsed, leaving the species teetering on the edge of extinction.
01:50What had once been abundant in the world's oceans was reduced to a fraction of its former number.
01:55Three different times when we thought they were extinct, and then the third time was there were about 30 to 60 on the island of Guadalupe Island off of Mexico,
02:11and at that point, the president of Mexico decided to protect them, and he called in the militia, and so you could not kill them anymore.
02:22Recognizing the crisis, the Mexican government extended legal protection to the species in the early 1920s, followed shortly by protection in the United States.
02:35Today, more than 250,000 northern elephant seals roam the Pacific, and Anya Nuevo hosts one of the largest mainland breeding rookeries on the West Coast.
02:45But there are about 250,000. There is a genetic bottleneck, because they're all coming from that same 30 to 60, but so far they're doing really well, and we haven't had any problems.
02:58Visitors come in droves each winter, booking docent-led guided walks along dunes and beaches to witness the spectacle males clashing on the shore,
03:09mothers nursing 75-pound pups that quickly swell on rich milk, and the loud calls that fills the crisp seaside air.
03:16The work of researchers like Laura has been crucial to the revitalization of the species, and the protection of these marine creatures,
03:40considered an essential component of the ecosystems with which they are closely linked.
03:45Thanks to years of monitoring, active conservation, and scientific research,
03:50it is now possible to better understand their ecological role, and advance strategies that ensure their long-term survival.
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