FP6 Northern Elephant Seal Pup, Piedras Blancas

We were photographing Northern Elephant Seals along a ruggedly beautiful stretch of California's central coast. Strategically positioned on a sand dune we were soaking in warm sun on a cool, calm winter morning -- watching natural history unfold below us as hundreds of elephant seals go about the serious business of raising the next generation. It was the last morning of an already productive visit, and we were doing more observing than photographing. My friend had on headphones attached to a Walkman. No, it wasn't Britney or Prince; it was 49ers and Packers in a first-round playoff struggle.

Suddenly, I heard an "Oh, no!" from behind me. Thinking the 49ers must have been intercepted again, I chuckled and turned around. Following my friend's gaze I saw a shocking development. A large wave had swept onto the beach, swamped a group of females and pups, and was dragging an unfortunate pup down the sloping beach toward churning surf. Its mother frantically scrambled after it, but was too late to prevent the pup from being swept into the ocean. We watched helplessly as the bobbing pup floated farther from shore until, miraculously, another large wave picked it up and deposited back onto the beach, some fifty yards down current from where it had entered the water. The pup's mother, after her futile attempt to prevent the pup from being washed away, had gone back to her previous resting location. Amazingly, from only fifty yards away, she seemed oblivious to the loud and incessant cries of her distressed pup as it struggled to pull itself up the sloping beach onto dry sand.

By coincidence, the pup had crawled to a spot directly below us. I could have photographed it with an 80-200mm lens, looking straight down; but the image, as seen through the viewfinder, seemed disconnected from the drama that had just taken place. Switching to a longer lens I walked back along the sand dune until the ocean was visible in the background, which I felt was significant, considering what had just transpired. The view through 700mm (500mm plus 1.4x T/C) showed the advantage of compressed perspective. Although I was still on the sand dune, the greater distance from the pup and telephoto compression made it seem as though the image was made at eye level. The pup, just a few days old, was obviously tired and distressed. Every few feet it would stop to rest and cry out for help. I timed the shutter with its cries; the wide expanse of blue water in the background added a sense of isolation to the image of a lost pup.

I'm happy to report the story has a happy ending -- about an hour after the above photo was made the pup was accepted by a nearby female who had just given birth to her own pup.

So, what was the final score that memorable morning? We had an interception, a touchdown, a mating, a birth, and a near-drowning -- all within the span of an hour. Now, that's action photography.

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