The Travel Chica

Live Simple. Consume Less. Experience More.

What Exactly Is An Elephant Seal?

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Right after my amazing experience seeing penguins in their natural habitat for the first time, the tour took us to Isla Escondida.  As Hernan approached the beach on the rocky path, he explained that this is a public beach and fills with people from the nearby town of Trelew on the weekends.

Since we arrived on a weekday afternoon, not a single person was there.

We had it all to ourselves.

But what exactly did we have all to ourselves?

I was too embarrassed to admit I did not know what elefantes marinos (elephant seals) are until this day.  As soon as I saw them, I turned into a giddy little girl with an expensive camera (again, just like with the penguins).

We were told that we could go within 1-1.5 meters from them.  And I made sure to get right up in there.

I took another bazillion photos.

Once again, I forced myself to narrow it down to my 8 favorites.

 

So pretty!

Photo of pretty elephant seal

I know this guy might look like he has leprosy.

This is the time when they “change” their skin/ fur/ whatever you call it.

I think I made this one angry.

This guy has an itch.

This guy might be cold.

I wanted to join in on the group hug!

 

Want more elephant seals?  Check out the album.

Have you ever been this close to animal that was so large and so different from anything you had ever seen?

 

Travel Tip:  I had a great experience with Categoria Patagonia.  If you are going to Puerto Madryn, check out the excursions they offer here.  And please say hello to Martin for me!!

Comments

  5. We don’t tend to see elephant seals in my neck of the woods. Fur seals exist in Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay but I believe they’re in the south of the bay right where nobody is. I once saw TV footage of them using this huge floating channel marker/weather station as a shelter.

    You have to be careful with the elephant seals. They can be really aggressive and they’ve been known to bite. I’m surprised you were able to get so close to them that you could lie next to them without getting a bad reaction.

    Argentina is really lucky. They are the only country in the world other than Chile that has a considerable part of it’s coastline as southern elephant seal habitant.

  6. We have elephant seals just north of Santa Cruz. Their mating season is next month and they are wild indeed to watch at that time. You were really close! The males can be especially aggressive and they can move surprisingly fast. I would not want to be that close when the boys are rearing up and chest butting each other.
    Philip recently posted..The Great American Road Trip–Part IV

  7. Well, fat, blubbery, and leprosy’ey’ and they are still cute! And not too many of us can make that claim. That’s so cool you got to see them up close and personal.
    Claire recently posted..Identity Theft

  13. The one you called pretty; eh, not so much! :)

    When I used to scuba dive a lot, I’ve been right up close to a lot of interesting creatures. On a lake dive here in Wisconsin, I had a 3 foot northern pike swim along with me for about 20 feet. A small perch crossed our paths about 10 feet in front of us. The northern hit that perch like a torpedo and took it into the deeper water. Pretty awesome!
    Curt recently posted..Chocolate Crackles

  19. I really want to visit Puerto Madryn! The elephant seals look so cool.. I saw the herd (?) of them in San Simeon California – they sure are noisy and stinky! The big males are nuts.
    Laura recently posted..My ABC’s of Travel

  20. I LOVED this post. What a great way to spend the day on the beach. I agree with your friends – I enjoy seeing you in your photos. Maybe changing their skin/fur is called mottling? I am so glad you had such a great experience with elephant seals. How cool is that?! Your pix make me want to just reach out & touch them : ) What comes to my mind is when you & I went with Linda & Stan on their boat to Key West & stopped in the Everglades overnite. It was so awesome to see those endangered Manatees up close. They were huge & ugly but cute in their own way. We rode the waverunners slowly around them to get closer to them. We had to hurry up before the mosquitos came & get back in the boat & close up everything & pull netting around us. It’s too bad some people don’t care about protecting our precious animals of the world. Love Mom

  25. Some excellent shots! The angry elephant seal genuinely does look quite angry and a bit scary but the rest are lovely and really cute! The last shot is my favourite!

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