Another aerial recon photo of Ano Nuevo Island. The area is a wildlife reserve and state park. An adult bull northern elephant seal of about 2 tons catches some sleep in between bouts of brawling with rival males. The bull elephant seals fight for dominance over the harems of females that cover the islands small beaches. The northern elephant seal is the deepest diving of all marine mammals, rivaled only by the massive sperm whale both species can dive down to depths of 5000 feet.
Elephant seals live most of their lives on the open ocean often feeding on deepwater squid.
It is unknown whether or not white sharks follow the elephant seal migrations or rather intercept them at the rookeries and haul-outs like Ano Nuevo Island and the Farallons. The channel is on the other side of the island. This is the view of the island that the research boat has much of the time while awaiting predatory events. The dark colored mansion is on the right of the island, The fog horn building is the light colored building in the right center of the island and the light tan colored bunker can be seen to the left of the fog horn building. The channel can be treacherous during the winter months and skiffs have been over-turned.