Cuddle-puddle of Mirounga

Young Elephant Seals snoozing in Sewer Gulch at low tide.

The Elephant Seal (in the genus Mirounga) is a bizarre and awesome creature. Their weird noises bubble up from the gulches around the island--their squabbling roar is a combination between a rocket-launch fart and someone gagging and vomiting. Sounds gross, but it's really quite endearing. Most of the time they just sleep and snore. When you sneak up on them, they look up at you with these big, sad, baby eyes.