We were about to leave the Point Reyes beach overlook with all the elephant seals.

Robyn had been talking to one of the wildlife experts, and she observed how few large males were present.

The docent (hey, give them the title…this place was cold and windy!) said, “Oh, many of the males stop at another beach and hang out together.” Where? “Just over there.”

Oh my, and they were much closer to where we could stand and watch.

Like 6 feet.

This one was sleeping against the fence behind which we had to stand!

I had only brought my long lens, because it was a fair hike to the overlook and I knew from experience the beach was almost a quarter mile away.

So all you get are tight shots…although the setting wasn’t much to look at, so you’re not missing much.

Except the rest of this fella’s body!

Doesn’t he look almost comical?

Not so much, after he got over to where the other young males were sparring.

Their sparring is just practice, because mating season is past and no females are around.

This monster mostly laid on the beach, but got up once to do some bellowing. You can see that his recent sparring has been aggressive enough to draw blood…wonder what the other guy looks like?