Another One's Left the Beach!

And, we have take-off!  9930 (or 9839) has finally left the beach and headed out to sea for his post-breeding trip.

ARGOS satellite track of male northern elephant seal 9930

His satellite tag connects through the ARGOS satellite network, so we positional information about where he is while he is at sea. As you can see in the map, he took off from Ano Nuevo State Park (which is near Pescadero, California).  He immediately headed north along the Californian coast up past San Francisco, and then, most recently, he made a sharp left turn so that he is now heading west into the North Pacific Ocean.

Male northern elephant seal 9930/ 9839 at sea.
Photo by Stephen Trumble. NMFS permit #14636.