Point Reyes Elephant Seal Population Growth Continues in 2021 with Record Weaned Pup Count

The number of seals on Drakes Beach has been increasing dramatically over the past several years, and 2021 was no exception. Researchers counted 700 adult females on there this year. NPS / Marjorie Cox - NMFS Permit No. 21425

March 2021 - Another successful season for northern elephant seal monitoring was had this year at Point Reyes National Seashore! Population assessment continues to show a growth trend, with the highest weaned pup count recorded this year. Researchers counted a peak of 1,153 weaned pups, as well as a peak of 1,232 breeding females.

The number of seals on Drakes Beach has also been increasing dramatically over the past several years, and 2021 was no exception. Researchers counted 700 adult females on Drakes Beach this year. That’s more than half of the adult females counted in all of Point Reyes, and more than double the 300 adult females counted on Drakes Beach in 2015. Encouraged by high surf and a big winter storm, seals moved into the shelter of Drakes Bay. To discourage them from using the beach in front of Ken Patrick Visitor Center, park staff hazed pregnant females. While initial hazing was successful, stormy weather pushed seals onto this beach overnight and a pup was born, putting a stop to further deterrence methods.

One benefit of the movement into Drakes Bay is that the seals are more accessible to researchers for tagging and tag resight efforts. This year, researchers tagged over 500 weaned pups. They also tagged nine adult females at the visitor center harem. Tagging allows researchers to follow individual seals’ movements between and within colonies throughout their lives.

Most adult males and nursing females have now departed to their feeding grounds, but weaned pups will remain on Point Reyes’ beaches through April. April and May are also typically the peak of the immature (of both sexes) and adult female elephant seal molting season, when the seals return to shore to shed their fur and top layer of skin and grow a new coat. Park researchers have already seen a few returning adult female “molters” in recent weeks.

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