The Northern Elephant Seals, Mirounga angustirostris, at the Piedras Blancas rookery on the Central Coast of California.

---

The Northern Elephant Seal, Mirounga angustirostris, is an extraordinary marine mammal. It spends eight to ten months a year in the open ocean, diving 1000 to 5000 feet deep for periods of fifteen minutes to two hours, and migrating thousands of miles, twice a year, to its land based rookery for birthing, breeding, molting and rest. The Piedras Blancas rookery, on Highway 1 seven miles north of San Simeon on the California Central Coast, is home to about 17,000 animals.

---

Size: 4103px × 2725px
Location: Central California Coast, CA, USA
Photo credit: © Jamie Pham / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: adult, angustirostris, beach, blancas, central, coast, cool, cooling, elephant, female, flipper, group, mirounga, northern, phocidae, piedras, rookery, san, sand, sandy, seal, seals, simeon, sun, sunning, sunny, throw, toss