Every winter, about 10,000 elephant seals make their way to California’s Año Nuevo State Park, to fight, mate and give birth. The spectacle runs from mid-December through March, drawing wildlife watchers eager for a glimpse of the largest seals on the planet. Park docent Laura Stern says it is all part of pupping season, when the long-nosed bull seals engage in bloody battles for breeding access to the females. Elephant seals were hunted nearly to extinction in the 1800s, sought out for their blubber, which was used to make oil. Recognizing the crisis, the Mexican government extended legal protection to the species in 1922. Today the population has grown to an estimated 250,000 seals living in the Pacific.
