Wildlife notes

When I left Race Rocks on Feb 5th 2026, Sylvia and Ms. B. Lackie, her 17 day-old pup, were the only two elephant seals on the island.  Sylvia left shortly after her pup was weaned and Ms. B. Lackie stayed a lot longer.  Month later now, the grass is knee high and there are 5 different female elephant seals here on Race Rocks. The most famous of these is L334.  She was tagged as a weanling in March 3, 2023 in Ano Nuevo State Park in California. Each year thousands of elephant seals return to the park to breed and to molt (here is a link to their live camera to see just how many and how tightly packed they are).

In May 2024, the one-year-old L334 came to Race Rocks to molt. In her first year she traveled about 750nm to get here and quite possibly did the journey alone.  She came again to molt in April 2025, and is here again this May as a three year-old.

L334 – The 3 year-old elephant seal born in Ano Nuevo State Park, California, coming back from her daily swim. Behind her is a mature female.

L334 and her tag

Using L334 as a size reference, I figure we currently have one, two, three and four year-old juvenile females and one mature female. Note, the one year-old cannot be Ms B Lackie as elephant seals don’t molt until the year after they are born.

The 1 year old is mid-molt, the two to four year-olds are in the late stages of molt and will be leaving soon.  The large adult is just preparing to start her molt.

From  left to right: The two year-old at the end stages of her molt and the “scruffy” one year-old mid way through her molt.

From left to right: The mature female preparing to molt, a four year-old in the late stage molt, and  the three year old L334, also in late stage molt.

Facility work

• topped up battery fluid
• cleaned house
• ran the desalinator
• cleaned solar panels

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 17
• Private: 3

Weather

Sunny. Winds W 5 to 20. Daytime temperature 9 to 13 degrees.