Wed- Feb. 23rd Monterey Aquarium and Ano Nuevo State Park

Today was another exciting day. Off to an early start, headed an hour out of Monterey to Ano Nuevo.  Ano Nuevo is another state park with breathtaking sites and elephant seals.  We learned many more interesting facts about the elephant seals.  We learned about their breeding habits and migration.  Some really cool facts.... once they migrate here, they no longer need to eat!!!  They live off of the fat they stored up while feeding before migrating to CA sites.  A female elephant seal will start to have babies at the age of 4.  Then she will have a baby once a year, every year. They give birth to only one baby at a time.  Males, well, there are the Alpha males, the ones who are dominate and they mate with the females.  One Alpha male will mate with many females.  The other males will try to overtake the stronger one, but they are not usually successful.  Baby elephant seals will feed from their mothers for about 4 weeks only.  When born, they are about 40 pounds.  After 4 weeks, they no longer feed off their mothers and are now about 200 pounds.  They must learn all on their own how to hunt and feed. There is no connections between the parents and the new babies after they are 4 weeks old.  Only about half of the elephant seals that migrate and are born actually survive.  Nature once again has a way of weeding out the weak ones.  While walking on the beach at Ano Nuevo, we collected some really cool rocks.  I know my first graders will love what  I found. Many colors and some rocks with fossils in them.  Now, as I was walking and looking down, I almost walked into an elephant seal... there was one sleeping on the beach, but I didn't notice it until I was right there, within a few feet.... everyone looked with amazement that there was just one lone elephant seal right there.  The law says that people must stay at least 25 feet away from any elephant seal on a beach.  So our tour guide was there to remind us of this fact.

After our hike ended, I  found some wonderful books and a DVD on elephant seals in the gift shop...so of course my charge card was put to good use... more books.... can't wait to share them with my class.

We then headed back to Monterey to the aquarium.  I couldn't wait to get there, was very excited.  I love aquariums and knew that this one was amazing.  I loved every inch of this place.... the animals were beautiful and every section was organized so well.  Easy to follow.  I fell in love with the sea otters. They were amazing to watch.   I also loved the sections with the various sea horses and penguins.  My only regret, wished I had more time there.  I wish I had one more day in Monterey.  I really enjoyed my stay at this location and sure hope to come back some day.

I missed making my call into the class today since I was held up by the elephant seal on the beach!!  My cell phone was on the bus, and we returned there a bit later than expected.  So will try calling in tomorrow...

We are heading back to SF tomorrow with a few stops on the way.  Can't believe it is almost Thursday morning.... until tomorrow!!!!