Images from the American West: Elephant Seal

Once they come on land the elephant seals won't eat again for something like 1-2 months, so they tend to conserve energy as much as possible. I sat with this guy for well over an hour, and had to wait through long stretches of complete inactivity before he would do something exciting (like scratch himself). If ever you see a photo of an elephant seal doing anything other than sleeping or scratching you'll know that it is the work of a photographer who is either extraordinarily patient or else really, really lucky.