Nicole Teutschel at Año Nuevo State Reserve, CA -- From the first day of life, elephant seals are living in the fast lane. Penelope's pup, who was born on January 24^th, was weaned around the 23^rd of February. Most pups are weaned about 27 days they're born.

Right after birth, females bond with their pups. They learn each other's smells and sounds, and the pup learns that it must stay close to its mom to be safe. Females can be mean to pups that are not their own. Penelope's pup has been bitten by another female leaving it with an "x" scar on its forehead. Here's a map of the elephant seals breeding beaches at Año Nuevo. You can find the harem where Penelope and her pup live.

Penelope and her pup calling to each other (above). Below you can see the X mark on the pup's forehead, probably from bitted by another female.

After a little trial and error, the pup learns to stay close to mom, no matter what! This means when males plow through the harem, fights break out between males or females, or other pups sneak in close to try to steal milk, a pup has to be tough and get back to its mother.

This bond doesn't last long, however. After 27 days the female will have lost enough weight that she must wean her pup and return to the ocean to feed. This is an abrupt weaning…there isn't any warning for this fat pup that's used to being fed!

Penelope on February 12, looking skinny. You can see that her pup is growing fast. We removed her satellite tag five days after her pup was born.

The pup, who's now called a weaner, has a hard time! Many pups try to nurse off other females, who usually bite them. Soon weaners like Penelope's son, learn their lesson and undulate out of the harem where they won't get bitten, run over, or harassed by males. This time of year, the weaners are everywhere! They've escaped to the bushes, the tops of sand dunes, into puddles and mud, and in Penelope's weaner's case, way behind the dunes where visitors to Año Nuevo State Reserve follow the path out to the harems.

Penelope's pup is now a weaner. He has grown from about 100 pounds to over 310 pounds in only four weeks!

After the pups are weaned, we weigh them and take length and girth measurements as a part of an ongoing study. Penelope's son was one of two weaners back behind the dunes, which allowed us to catch him pretty easily. These measurements help TOPP researchers to better understand the adult females' health. This is another way to access how successful the females were in their last foraging trip.