Jameson was stationed in Monterey, studying sea otters for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service at the time. Thinking the hikers may have stumbled onto a rare colony of Stellar sea lions, Jameson made the trek down the coast in search of the pinnipeds.

On his first trip to the coastline of southern Monterey County, he didn't find any of the animals. Two years later, however, he discovered a small rookery of northern elephant seals.

In 1978, Jameson counted 38 seals at the remote beach. Today, several thousand elephant seals haul out on the same beach at different times of the year to give birth, mate, and molt.

The cows, which pup from late December through early February, now bear about 500 pups each season at the rookery.

"It's pretty amazing," Jameson said, talking about the phenomenal growth of the Central Coast seal rookery.

There are only a handful of elephant seal rookeries in the state. The most well known are at Año Nuevo Point in San Mateo County and San Miguel Island, one of the California Channel Islands.

State officials asked New Times not to reveal the exact location of the Central Coast rookery because of problems they have had with people harassing the seals in the past. However, the state Coastal Conservancy plans to eventually open an interpretive center at the site with a viewing platform where people can observe the seals without bothering them.

The fast growth rate at the Central Coast rookery could explain how these marine mammals bounced back from the brink of extinction.

It's a familiar story. The seals, like most fur-bearing marine mammals, were hunted heavily in the late 19th century. By the late 1880s, the seals were thought to be extinct.

However, a small colony of elephant seals was discovered off of Baja California on Isla de Guadalupe in 1892. When hunting stopped, the seals made a fairly quick recovery. In 1991, there were an estimated 127,000 northern elephant seals.

Now the animals are found off the coasts of California, Oregon, and as far north as the Aleutian Islands and as far west as Hawaii.

"Elephant seals spend nearly half the year at sea, traveling literally thousands of miles," Jameson said.

The seals are named for the long proboscis, or nose, found on the males. They look sort of like an elephant that's squished it's trunk against a rock and turned its legs into flippers. The females, which weigh up to about 1,800 pounds, do not have the large nose.

Elephant seals are one of the deepest diving mammals, able to dive nearly a mile deep and stay underwater for almost an hour. They feed on squid at those depths, but little else is known about their diet because they feed so deep, Jameson said.

"None of the seals eat when they are ashore," except for the pups, he added.

Social order is important in elephant seal life. Males stake out territories on the beach, and fights for females can be bloody, violent affairs. The males slap their long noses against each other, digging into the thick flesh of each others' necks with their teeth during fights.

Males mate with several females during the breeding season. In a convenient cycle, the females are impregnated just after giving birth, but the fetus doesn't begin growing in the womb until nearly eight months later, Jameson said.

After a four-month gestation period, a bouncing baby elephant seal weighing about 60 pounds is born. In a month, the pup will grow to about 300 pounds, feeding on its mother's fat-rich milk.

Most of the babies survive to return to the beach as adults.

"Sometimes they are abandoned, and sometimes they are crushed by other males or seals that are moving across the rookery to have an interaction with another male," however, Jameson said.

Jameson, who is now working out of an Oregon office for the National Biological Survey, still keeps tabs on the Central Coast elephant seal population.

He said the rookery in southern Monterey County is getting to be better known, which isn't necessarily a good thing for the animals.

People who come to see the seals occasionally make the steep, dangerous climb to the beach to get closer to the animals, he said. People have been seen throwing rocks at the animals, or allowing their dogs to harass seals on the beach.

"Unfortunately, it's kind of hard to hide these big critters," he said.

Jameson warned that it is a federal offense to harass any marine mammal. He said it is also physically dangerous, because the male elephant seals have been known to charge at people.

"I can tell you if one does get ahold of you...there could be real tragic consequences for the human that's involved," the biologist said.

The state Coastal Conservancy purchased 24 acres on the high cliffs above the seal beach in 1990. It plans to develop a small interpretive center and a viewing overlook on the steep bluff. A Coastal Conservancy employee who has worked on the project for several years said once it is built, the agency will gladly talk to the media about it.

The viewing platform is expected to be opened in the summer of 1995, according to Steve Horn of the Coastal Conservancy.

With binoculars, visitors will be able to get a good look at the seals on the beach without disturbing them.

"What I like about [the site] is that the potential is there to educate people about seals without causing them any major problems," Jameson said.∆

This story ran on March 23, 1994 in the San Luis Obispo County New Times.