Nicole Teutschel at Piedras Blancas, CA-- Sidda is one of the featured elephant seals with Elephant Seal Homecoming Days here at TOPP.org.  This week we traveled south, down California coast through Big Sur all the way to Piedras Blancas searching for Sidda the e seal.

Sidda’s tags aren’t reporting very often. For some reason, we haven’t gotten a recent location, or satellite hit, from her tag. Sidda could be almost anywhere!
One of the harems at Piedras Blancas. Photo: Nicole Teutschel

A close up of one of the harems, there were dozens of pelicans flying overhead. Photo: Nicole Teutschel

There are a few reasons a satellite tag may not be reporting:

1. GPS- Some of our GPS satellite tags are programed such that data is stored first: and sent later. Tags programed that way are important to recover because we want to download that data which is stored in the tag.
2. Rocks! Male elephant seals haul out on different terrain...you never know where you’ll find a loser male! Cow pasture, highway, rocky shore, tide pools, or sleeping far off the beach up in the dunes. If a male beats up his tag too much, they can break the tag’s antenna!
3. Predators: If a seal has been swallowed...the tags antenna is not strong enough to transmit from their predators belly. 
4. Batteries- Just like your watch, remote, and ipod...satellite tags batteries can also die at sea. The batteries are big lithium batteries, build tough. They withstand depth, a wide range of temperatures, and quite a long journey. But every so often, a seals’ batteries will die at sea.

This TOPP E Seals also have a vhf radio transmitter attached to their backs. This nifty little tag transmits a radio signal that can be picked up on shore. When we can’t find the seals, we use a scanner and radio antennae to look for her. That’s exactly what we did at Piedras Blancas, but no luck so far.
Lauren Randall, undergraduate intern, using the radio reciever to scan for Sidda and other seals at Piedras Blancas. If she is there, we will hear her signal! Photo: Nicole Teutschel.

We’ll continue to search, north and south...there are still a lot of seals arriving! Stay tuned to hear news about Sidda and the other featured e seals with Elephant Seal Homecoming Days.