Riding down to see the elephant seals

Another PCer came through Monterey on his way south on a rented bike so I tagged along with him all the way to the elephant seal vista point near San Simeon. We then went to Cambria for lunch before I turned back north.

On my way back north I encountered a significant headwind that was rapidly depleting my fuel supply. Rather than chance it getting to the next gas station in Big Sur, I pulled over in Gorda to fuel up. This is one of the most isolated gas stations in the Lower 48 and the price really shows the isolation. They were out of regular and plus but they still had premium at $8.499/gallon. This photo even ended up on some nightly news show because the price was so high. Such is life along the Big Sur coast.

An elephant seal rescue, birds, and some sea lions

We watched a baby elephant seal be rescued by the marine mammal rescue center folks this evening at Breakwater. He was pretty skinny and was lethargic on the beach.
In you go to the crate, little dude!
Ready for transport to an all-inclusive resort spar where he’ll get loads of yummy fish and squid!
Hauling him up to the truck.
Pretty night heron sitting on the jetty.
A little regatta was underway in the bay.
A shorebird looking for snacks among the muscles.
We keep seeing this guy. He was out hunting for muscles he could pry open to eat.
His legs were hard to get not blown out by the lighting. Oh well. Can’t get every shot to work out.
Some sea lions heading out to play.
It’s always the females that we see herding together.

Our little orange billed seabird friend with his head underwater.
Looking for snacks!