Unofficial PetaPixel BotStunning Photo of Resilient Elephant Seal Pups Wins Underwater Photographer of the Year 2026 https://petapixel.com/2026/02/26/underwater-photographer-of-the-year-2026-elephant-seal-pups/ #underwaterphotographeroftheyear #underwaterphotocontest #underwaterphotographer #naturephotography #photocompetition #elephantseal #Spotlight #News
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George SchererElephant Seal resting on the beach. Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery, San Simeon, California, USA. October, 2025. OM System OM-1 M.Zuiko 300mm F4.0 PRO + MC14 #piedrasblancasrookery #sansimeon #seal #elephantseal #beach #animal #nature #naturephotography #amateurphotography #photography #omsystem #om1 #mzuiko300mmf4pro #mc14
George SchererElephant Seal resting on the beach. Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery, San Simeon, California, USA. October, 2025. OM System OM-1 M.Zuiko 300mm F4.0 PRO + MC14 #piedrasblancasrookery #sansimeon #seal #elephantseal #beach #animal #nature #naturephotography #amateurphotography #photography #omsystem #om1 #mzuiko300mmf4pro #mc14
Jacques FortierKeeping Cool
An elephant seal covers itself in sand to cool off. Elephant seals spend most of their lives in the ocean, regularly diving thousands of feet deep to feed. They're adapted to survive in deep frigid waters as cold as a few degrees above freezing, sporting a thick blubber layer and no sweat glands. When they haul out on beaches to breed, they regulate their temperature through active cooling, flipping cool damp sand onto their backs to cool off and block the sun.
Anticipation
On the eve of #elephantsealmonth, everyone was preparing for the imminent arrival of female Northern Elephant Seals to give birth at Point Reyes. A bull staked a claim to a prime section of beach while a National Park Service ranger cleaned up bits of trash. (I used a telephoto lens here, so everyone looks closer together than they actually were. Both I and the ranger were staying at least 25 ft away from the seal, which is what @PointReyesNPS recommends to keep people and elephant seals […]
Liam O'Mara IV, PhDThe #McDonaldIslands were found #ThisDayInHistory in 1854. (#HeardIsland was sighted the previous year.) Trump famously levied tariffs against the uninhabited islands. They were abandoned after 1877, by which time sealers had killed off the #ElephantSeal population for their oil.
PugJesusAntarctic explorer next to the skeleton of an Elephant Seal, 1912
