English: Northern Elephant Seals (M. angustirostris) at sunrise early light at Piedras Blancas, San Simeon, CA 03 Feb 2012.

Massive Alpha Males were most active today, breeding, and engaging in battles in between to defend their territories and harems. There was much posturing, grunting, bellowing, chasing, crashing into each other, biting and thrashing until the dominant male was established.

At Piedras Blancas light is everything. The beach was crowded with a mass of elephant seals, a must-see exhibition. The main goal this morning was to capture a battle of the Alpha Males as they defend their territory during the height of the mating season and before the females head back out to sea.

Photo © 2012 “Mike” Michael L. Baird, mike {at] mikebaird d o t com, flickr.bairdphotos.com, Canon EOS 5D Mark II 21.1MP Full Frame CMOS Digital SLR Camera with Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras, without Circular Polarizer until about an hour after sunrise, then after with the polarizer on, at least partially engaged, on a Wimberley Head II from tripodhead.com on a Gitzo GZGT5540LS Gitzo Series 5 tripod, Systematic Tele Studex 6 X Carbon Fiber 4 Section Tripod Legs with G-Lock, Maximum Load 55.0 lbs. Maximum Height 59.4, Leveling base, RAW, IS was off with this massive tripod and no wind. Autofocus using single-center focus point (almost always focusing in the eye first and then recomposing) , one-shot (not AI Servo) mode, burst mode.