In late December a couple hundred thousand Elephant seals come ashore on the west coast of the United States and Mexico. An amazing phenomenon when you consider that 100 years ago they were hunted to near extinction (world wide population of less than 100) and now 180,000. The cows arrive and give birth, then the pups nurse for 3-4 weeks and grow from 60 to 300 pounds. Before departing for months at sea the females mate with an alpha male to begin a new cycle of population growth. Ano Nuevo is the site of up to 10,000 seals. Look carefully, there are almost as many pups as cows on the beach and about one alpha male for every dozen cows.