Elephant Seals of Guadalupe Island 



and many of them, although wide awake, did not 

 raise their heads from the sand until closely ap- 

 proached. When driven from a comfortable rest- 

 ing place, they would soon settle down, and after 

 throwing sand on their backs with their front 

 flippers, would become quiet again. Both old and 

 young have this habit of covering themselves with 

 sand. 



Some of the large males, after being driven into 

 the sea, soon returned. While in the water they 

 remained near the surf, disregarding the boats 

 which passed near them, their heads usually held 

 well above water, with the proboscis partly re- 

 tracted. When making a landing, the large males 

 moved very slowly, with frequent pauses, from 

 time to time raising and spreading the hind flip- 

 pers to get the benefit of every wave that might 

 help them through the shallows. When finally 

 clear of the water and dependent upon their own 

 efforts in getting their ponderous bulk to a dry 

 place well up the sloping beach, their progress 

 became very slow. 



Most of their attitudes are well shown in the 

 accompanying pictures, but it must be confessed 

 that we could not have secured all of our photo- 

 graphs without first getting the animals thoroughly 

 aroused. In some cases I focused my camera on 



413 



