Elephant seals knock down fence and move into car park at California beach

Author : mamun Published: January 30, 2019

Posted

January 31, 2019 13:41:11

Photo:
The colony of seals also knocked down a fence and moved into the beach’s car park. (Supplied: John Dell’Osso/Point Reyes National Seashore)

A colony of elephant seals that took over a popular tourist beach in a Californian national park during the recent US government shutdown have given birth to a whole lot of pups and have no plans to move on.

Key points:

The Californian national park is home to about 1,500 elephant seals in total
Recent storms and high tides forced one colony to shelter on a popular tourist beach
With no staff around, the animals knocked down a fence and moved into the car park

About 60 adult seals took over a beach north of San Francisco, when no staff were on duty to discourage the animals from congregating in the popular area and few tourists were visiting, officials said.

They have given birth to 35 pups — and now they are not going anywhere.

Point Reyes National Seashore national park is home to a colony of about 1,500 elephant seals that tend to frequent another beach with 30-metre-high cliffs that keep the animals protected and mostly hidden from the public, park spokesman John Dell’Osso said.

Photo:
Environmental research projects were also disrupted by the month-long partial US government shutdown. (AP: Eric Risberg)

Mr Dell’Osso said it was likely recent storms and high tides in the area inundated the animals’ normal habitat with water, forcing them to seek a wider swathe of dry land around the corner.

“Sometimes you go out with tarps and you shake the tarps and it annoys them and they move the other direction,” he said.

But since there were no staff at work to address the seal migration, amid a month-long partial government shutdown as President Donald Trump and Democrats battled over his proposed border wall, the animals took over.

The seals knocked down a fence and moved into the car park, with one seal even venturing under a picnic table near a cafe, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The elephant seals were lounging in the sand after the government shutdown ended and national parks reopened on the weekend, leading staff to close the road to the beach temporarily.

Officials said they would not move the animals on while they nursed their pups.

Staff members are now considering ways to capitalise on the seal invasion — they may soon begin offering guided tours of the colony, Mr Dell’Osso said.

ABC/wires

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