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View Full Version : Anyone been attacked by an elephant seal?



John Kasaian
26-Apr-2009, 20:56
They are all over the central California coastline. The major beeding grounds are fenced off but here are dozens of beaches where these critters sun and they will actually pose for you if you're respectful (and keep your distance as the Fish and Game laws mandate, and btw, which your olfactory senses will inevitably dictate as Elephant Seals do not use Right Guard!)

However...

Elephant Seals are on the beach for a reason, driven by nature and it stands to reason that a Bull Elephant Seal could mistake a geek behind a tripod, covered with a focusing cloth and a bellows "snout" up front (trying to capture the coy smile of an Annette Funicello beach baby Elephant Seal) as a suitor challenging his harem. In which case it wouldn't be 'love at first sight."

So out of curiosity's sake, has anyone here ever been charged by an Elephant Seal while photographin' these lil' darlins?

Dave Aharonian
26-Apr-2009, 21:34
I'm way to scared of these guys to get close enough to be chased. A few years back I had one chase me when I paddled my kayak too close to the rock they were hauled out on. It swam behind me for a few minutes, barked at me, then left me alone. If I was to shoot these guys I'd haul out the 35mm gear and a HUGE tele lens!

Robert Oliver
26-Apr-2009, 21:40
I used to photograph elephant seals at a beach near Gorda that had them before the colony established itself at Piedras Blancas near the road. At that time, the only colony I knew of was at Ano Nuevo.

I was doing a shoot with for the newspaper I was working for at the time. To get to the main colony at Gorda, you had to walk VERY close to the "bachelors" on a beach to the north of the main colony.

One of the young bulls raised his heads and gave me some snorts, but then quickly forgot about me and went back to sleep.

They move pretty quickly for their size and I wouldn't want to get caught under one. Be very aware of your surroundings in case you have to make a quick exit. Make sure you aren't running into another elephant seal if you are trying to escape. Just like shooting football, make sure there is nobody or nothing behind you in case you have to make a hasty retreat.

If I remember right, there is a very hefty fine for disturbing marine mammals. There are plenty of photo ops at Piedras Blancas that would limit needs to disturb some of the non-DFG controlled colonies.

Vaughn
26-Apr-2009, 21:43
I shared a sunrise on a beach in New Zealand (North Island) with a huge Southern Elephant Seal. Nice guy. He just laid there and occasionally flipped some more sand on himself. I just tried to stay up wind (he stank!). I was about 15 feet or so away -- got a couple shots of him on the 4x5. This would have been 23 years ago. Talking to the locals afterwards, they said he just showed up one day in the small bay and hung around -- all the school kids were taken down to check him out. Definitely a different situation than dealing with a colony and males guarding females and all that.

On the same trip, I go a bit of a scare on the South Island in a seal rookery on the west coast (just south of Westport). I was climbing up a rock and came face-to-face with a regular sized seal. Scared both of us. I was about two feet away and remember two things -- the size of its teeth and the fishy breath!

Vaughn

Anthony Lewis
27-Apr-2009, 01:53
Vaughn,
That happened to my family and myself a few years ago in the same place as you describe on the south Is of NZ. They were pretty scary, but I suspect harmless, however we and they took off in opposite directions.

Bruce Barlow
27-Apr-2009, 04:00
I backed off quickly when one raised his head to look at me askance. After all, it was his beach, not mine. Somewhere in California when I was young and spry. Got the picture, but I don't have a signed release from him.

In another case, much longer ago, we were both drunk at a college party. She was a female, I think. Once again, I backed off quickly. This one was scarier.

John Kasaian
27-Apr-2009, 06:57
In another case, much longer ago, we were both drunk at a college party. She was a female, I think. Once again, I backed off quickly. This one was scarier.

Co-ed Elephant Seals?? :eek:

Paul Kierstead
27-Apr-2009, 08:31
Well, in the bizarre forum topic titles, this one is leading the way.

LF can be more stressful then some other methods, especially if you lean towards the control freak (i.e. me). The whole head under the covers thing. I find in situations where I might be unhappy with the demeanor of the locals, having a shooting buddy (aka my girlfriend) really makes it a more relaxed (and controlled) situation.

Wallace_Billingham
27-Apr-2009, 08:37
I have had Black Bears sneak up on me when I have been out shooting before, but we don't have seals in the hills of Western PA :-)

dazedgonebye
27-Apr-2009, 09:06
I've had problems with rattlesnakes, coyotes and javalina...but never elephant seals.
Try a dryer climate.

Richard Wasserman
27-Apr-2009, 09:24
I was confronted by a mother swan, that was scary enough for me...

Nathan Potter
27-Apr-2009, 09:25
Shoot! I'll take the elephant seal - even Bruces' female, ahead of the Texas hill country chiggers while attempting LF photography.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

Eric James
27-Apr-2009, 09:27
I've had the pleasure of viewing male elephant seals off Ano Neuvo - they were battling for territory prior to the arrival of the females. I had seen footage of this behavior on nature shows, but seeing it in person was a very thrilling experience. At one point a large male lunged quickly in my direction, but I was 500 meters off viewing through binoculars.

I have been charged by a bull musk ox - there's an experience I could don't care to relive. The musk ox rut makes the big horn sheep rut look like child's play.

Brian Ellis
27-Apr-2009, 09:29
No seals but my daughter and I were attacked by a swan. Those things are mean and vicious.

Alan Davenport
27-Apr-2009, 09:30
I've never been there to try shooting elephant seals with a 4x5, but my gut tells me these subjects are a good reason not to toss out the 300/2.8 and your 35mm camera.

Joseph O'Neil
27-Apr-2009, 09:49
Was accosted once by a couple of drunks in the middle of the day while trying to shoot a church with my 4x5. Something about setting up a tripod brings out the worst in some people.

Never been that close to an elephant seal myself, but as a rough guess, I would suspect those seals had better manners (and body odour) than the two drunks who came at me. :D

I have had close encounters with animals however at night setting up my telescope. Again, something about setting up a tripod, I dunno. Maybe because I use the same Gitzo tripod to setup my 80mm refractor that I use for my 8x10? :)

Either way, I figure if I ever setup my 4x5 camera on my telescope some night, the way things are, I'll be totally frakked.
:p

Jim Rhoades
27-Apr-2009, 12:45
John, I have read and responded to a number of your posts over the years. Most times it would involve backcountry skiing with a metal 5x7 in a pack, then later complaints of chronic back pain and trips to the doctor.

This time I really get the feeling that there is a very interesting back story here.
Come on, we all need a laugh, what really happened to you?

John Kasaian
28-Apr-2009, 14:33
John, I have read and responded to a number of your posts over the years. Most times it would involve backcountry skiing with a metal 5x7 in a pack, then later complaints of chronic back pain and trips to the doctor.

This time I really get the feeling that there is a very interesting back story here.
Come on, we all need a laugh, what really happened to you?

Sorry, no story here. I've had a young bull snort at me a few times once long ago, but he never charged or anything like that. I could see how someone under a dark cloth with a bellows camera might look like a competitor to one of these guys though (I don't know how good their vision is--of course I've never seen one wearing specs either!)

Right now I'm driving Suzelle crazy, loafing around the house nursing some bruised ribs :( (courtesy of a bronc relative to the horse that is on your state's quarter) instead of being out there looking for a job:o .

Now that's a story! Unfortunately it dosen't have anything to do with photography!;)

DavidFisk
29-Apr-2009, 17:42
I shared a sunrise on a beach in New Zealand (North Island) with a huge Southern Elephant Seal. Nice guy. He just laid there and occasionally flipped some more sand on himself. I just tried to stay up wind (he stank!). I was about 15 feet or so away -- got a couple shots of him on the 4x5. This would have been 23 years ago. Talking to the locals afterwards, they said he just showed up one day in the small bay and hung around -- all the school kids were taken down to check him out. Definitely a different situation than dealing with a colony and males guarding females and all that.

On the same trip, I go a bit of a scare on the South Island in a seal rookery on the west coast (just south of Westport). I was climbing up a rock and came face-to-face with a regular sized seal. Scared both of us. I was about two feet away and remember two things -- the size of its teeth and the fishy breath!

Vaughn

I had a sort of similar experience in NZ at Kaikoura. There's a small seal island you can walk to at low tide where fur seals doze. I could get about 30 feet from them before they began making nervous sounds and threatening moves, so I sat and shot them from that distance. Suddenly, a seal popped out of the sea like a cork, and hustled over to me before I could even blink. Them suckers can really move when the spirit hits. We were eyeball to eyeball, literally. Like an idiot, I held out my hand. He/she nuzzled it with the side of its head like a cat. Remembering that a seal skull looks very similar to a tiger skull, teeth included, I slowly withdrew my hand. We sat there staring at each other for about half an hour. I guess he finally got bored and moved on.

Robert Oliver
29-Apr-2009, 20:11
I was told to treat an aggressive elephant seal the opposite way you would treat a charging black bear. Get small, the bigger you appear the more a bull will show aggression.

Brian Vuillemenot
29-Apr-2009, 20:29
It is technically illegal to get within a certain distance of a marine mammal in California- I believe that the minimum distance is 100 feet? Of course, the elephant seals along Highway 1 near San Simeon are right on the bottom of the overlook, probably within 20 or 25 feet, so apparently this is not enforceable. I would definately advise against trying to photograph a bull elephant seal with a large format camera- they move way too fast, you'd need a real long lens, and putting your head under the dark cloth in the vicinity of the largest living land mammal next to the elephant charged up on testosterone just strikes me as foolhardy. Not too mention they are sure to limit access of nature watchers and photographers if someone foolishly gets hurt and ruins it for everyone else. Please just bring your digital with a long lens.

Dave Hally
30-Apr-2009, 12:48
No, but I almost stepped on one at Point Lobos 2 weeks ago. There were two sunning themselves on the rocks on Weston Beach. I saw the one, but not the second. While looking for detail shots, as being aware of the one, I almost stepped on the second. Fortunately my shoe made a scraping noise and it heard me, truning its head back and up and making a noise like "what are you doing!?". I backed away and it went back to sleep.
Dave Hally

Bob Sawin
30-Apr-2009, 19:20
I remember reading about a photographer shooting in the Cascades and having a run in with a marmott. Because he got too close to it's den it ran him off. Each time he tried to recover some gear it ran him off again. I'm sure both were tired and had enough once the photographer recovered all his gear.

There is a very funny shot of Art Wolf in the Olympics sitting in a tree loading his camera (yes...Art shot alot of film...lol). A small group of mountain goat were waiting for him at the base of the tree. They can be very aggressive if they think you have food.

Bob

John Cahill
30-Apr-2009, 21:05
Nothing nearly as interesting. But I set up my 5x7 Ansco View on a slab of concrete at a pull-off near Taos, NM. There are vicious ants in them thar hills--and they do not like being disturbed by the legs of a tripod. Saving grace was I had on shorts; do not like the thought of having them charging up inside pant legs looking for a fight.