Daily Archives: Thursday,February 9, 2012

Zeke(Chunk) is Wounded

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This morning Zeke and Misery were both back on Great Race.  At some point in the night they must have come in contact and Zeke took a beating.

Ed Note : We now thinks Zeke and Chunk are the same male individuals. Scar patterns match.

There are multiple puncture wounds on his back and the one large open gash looks about 8″ long.  His right eyelid is also slightly to torn.

 

 

 

Misery chased Zeke again today over onto the rocks to the edge of the cliff.  This time Misery followed him onto the rocks but Zeke managed to make his way down the steep rocks on the West side and into the water.  He is currently hauled out on Middle Rock out of harms way for now.

A Standoff and a Fight

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As mentioned previously, Misery seems to be a bit more aggressive now that Bertha is gone.  Yesterday after chasing the pup around the house he took off after Chiunk, the younger male, who had been lying near the helicopter pad.

Misery chased him onto the rocks to the edge of a cliff.  Chunk was stuck but Misery didn’t seem to want to venture onto the rocks, a standoff ensued.

Eventually Misery gave up and made his way down to the boat ramp and into ocean. Later on Misery was in the water near Middle Rock sounding off his horn.  Chunk  took his time to get off the rocks and eventually made his way to the ramp and into the water.  Just before dark I could see Misery in the water by the jetty and throughout the night I could hear him sounding off.

Sometime during the night Zeke and Misery must have had an encounter and it did not go well for Zeke…

Bertha Departs

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The last 24 hrs have been pretty active on the elephant seal front. Yesterday morning I woke up to find Squall, the pup, right up against the door of the house, Misery laying about 12 ft away and no sign of Bertha, the mother.

Bertha had been looking increasingly skinny, tired and pale the past days and had likely given the pup all the milk, and Misery all the mating, that she could give.  She has been remarkably self-sacrificing and resilient, an impressive job of being a mother. I like to think that she is out there somewhere feasting on fish and getting some well deserved rest.

Now that Bertha is gone though, and can no longer distract Misery, he seems to be getting more aggressive.  Yesterday he chased the pup several times and had his jaws around it twice, if he had wanted to do the pup harm he easily could have, but he did not.  Apparently, in past years, Misery has tried to mate with a young pup.  The pup eventually made his away around the N side of the house and hid under the staircase. Misery again chased it later around the E side of the house where it seems to be out of his reach.

The pup stayed on the East side of the house shown in the photo last night and is still there today.  It has been making a lot of noise, presumably calling for its mother.