New York Times: How California's Elephant Seals Made a Remarkable Recovery
- Natural history
Hunted nearly to extinction, northern elephant seals, native to the waters off the West Coast, now number more than 175,000.
Published in The New York Times: March 16, 2023
Before summiting the slippery beachside dunes, wind-whipped sand spraying my face, I could hear what was on the other side.
Raspy grunts, high-pitched mews, guttural barks and the occasional roar bellowed toward my group of hikers at Año Nuevo State Park, a remote strip of coastal bluffs about 60 miles south of San Francisco. Once we crossed over to the wide sandy beach, the source of the commotion became obvious: hundreds of elephant seals, their slick blubbery bodies splaying out on the land or flopping into the chilly waters of the Pacific.
header image: photo © Luiza Naslausky
Yes, I want to save a life!
You’ll be giving sick and injured animals the best possible care at the Center’s state-of-the-art hospital. With your gift today, you are giving a patient a second chance at life in the wild.
See Our Latest News
{"image":"\/People\/Action\/Response\/cropped-images\/c-common-dolphin93026cuesta-inlet-in-morro-bayphoto-c-the-marine-mammal-center-noaa-mmhsrp-24359-0-399-1270-992-1790883642.jpg","alt":"Stranded dolphin response","title":"Three Common Dolphins Freed from Mudflats in Morro Bay","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/news\/three-common-dolphins-freed-from-mudflats-in-morro-bay","label":"News Update","date":"2026-10-02 02:00:00"}
{"image":"\/Animals\/Wild\/Humpback whale\/cropped-images\/a-humpback-whalesf-bay91526photo-by-norely-faz-c-the-marine-mammal-center-noaa-permit-26532-772-1-1270-992-1789760973.png","alt":"Humpback whale Rio","title":"Humpback Whale \"Rio\" Spotted in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/news\/humpback-whale-rio-spotted-in-the-sacramento-san-joaquin-delta","label":"News Update","date":"2026-09-18 12:10:00"}
Humpback Whale "Rio" Spotted in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
September 18, 2026
Read More{"image":"\/Animals\/Patients\/California sea lions\/2024\/d-california-sea-lionsin-treatment-for-domoic-acidsausalito72624photo-by-giancarlo-rulli-c-the-marine-mammal-center.jpg","alt":"California sea lions","title":"SF GATE: Sick, disoriented sea lions are washing up on California beaches","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/news\/sf-gate-sick-disoriented-sea-lions-are-washing-up-on-california-beaches","label":"In the News","date":"2026-09-01 10:39:22"}
SF GATE: Sick, disoriented sea lions are washing up on California beaches
September 1, 2026
Read More{"image":"\/Animals\/Wild\/Sea otter\/cropped-images\/sea-otter-shutterstock-118-0-2496-1950-1604015482.jpg","alt":"sea otter eating clams","title":"What Do Sea Otters Eat? And Other Otter Trivia","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/news\/what-do-sea-otters-eat-and-other-otter-trivia","label":"News Update","date":"2026-09-01 02:00:00"}
