Latest / NaturallyScott / E81 Naturally Scott Adventures – Elephant Seals: 6,000-Pound Giants of the California Coast 🦭🌊

Transcript

E81 Naturally Scott Adventures – Elephant Seals: 6,000-Pound Giants of the California Coast 🦭🌊 · NaturallyScott

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to this edition of Naturally Scott.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Scott Harris.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: Excited to be here with you today.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, as I always am, it's just uh it's just a thrill for me to do this.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh this is gonna be podcast number 81, so we're eating into this thing.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: My enthusiasm for it hasn't waned at all.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: I hope you guys are still excited about them.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: Based on the number of people watching, it would seem that you are.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: But uh, let's roll forward with today.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Today is a naturally scot adventures, and for regular watchers, you'll know that means we don't have a human guest.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna be talking about a trip that I've taken, uh, something I've experienced, and more important, uh the animals that I spend time with.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what we're rolling on.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: Today, elephant seals, massive animals, and we're gonna talk about that.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: And they're just amazing to see.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: And we have this tremendous opportunity to see them in a single location, and we're gonna talk about that too.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: Now, there's three things that I really want to focus on today when we're talking about elephant seals.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: The recovery, because we almost lost them, the size, because they're unbelievably big, or at least they are to me, and the ease of viewing.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna go through all of that, but let's start with the size, let's start with the dramatic right away.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: So if we look at some of the animals we know, black bears, about 600 pounds, grizzly bears, a little bigger, maybe 700 pounds, the Roosevelt elk, which can top a thousand pounds, moose, which can hit 1,300 pounds, a stellar sea lion, uh, which is 2,000 pounds, and a bison, the American bison, which is uh 2,200 pounds, tops out at a little over a ton.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: And if you think about the 2,200 pounds of the American bison, uh, it's the equivalent of a dozen grown men.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's the equivalent weight of the original VW bug.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know why.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's a stat that I kind of created, but I love it's the equivalent of 8,000 bananas.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're eating a banana, multiply that times 8,000, and you're looking at a bison.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Now let's talk about elephant seals.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: Elephant seals, the estimates that I've seen vary.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna lop off the very, very top ones.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you are looking at a massive bull probably weighing up to 6,000 pounds, three tons, two and a half times the weight and size of an American bison.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: Now, three tons, again, for perspective point of view, I've got an F-150 truck, that's what it weighs.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: My wife and I were in Africa a while back, we were looking at a rhinoceros, that's what it weighs.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: So we're looking at big animals, the big bulls are 13, 14 feet long.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: They're huge, they're just amazing to see.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm gonna show you where you can go to see them.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the comeback story, they were slaughtered, they were hunted down, and at the turn of the 20th century, so 125 years ago, roughly, there were fewer than 100 elephant seals left in the world.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: They have this oil-rich blubber that was a hunter's dream, right?
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh kind of a mini whale, if you will, for whalers.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: And so they were hunted, and they were hunted to near extinction.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: The last ones were all off the coast of Baja California on Guadalupe Island.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: And then there were some preservation acts done, some conservation decisions made, the hunting was banned, and it actually did stop, and they've come back.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: And now maybe there's 200,000 of them.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's huge, it's an amazing success story.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of them gather in Central California, just north of San Simeon and the Hearst Castle, and right off Highway One.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: So for those of you that haven't driven Highway One, and I hope you have, because it's one of the great drives in the world.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: But you're driving Highway One, you're right along the coast, and then there's this area that you're going to stop.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: We'll give you specifics.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: But when you do, you park, and right in front of you, there's a boardwalk.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's a 50-foot walk.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's nothing.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's flat, it's easy.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: And you're looking down at elephant seals.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: And they're there virtually year round.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there are days when they're not, but they're generally there all year round.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: Now, there are some highlight seasons, sometimes when you really want to go.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: Late January, that's when the breeding is taking place, and that's when the pups are being born.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: So that's an exciting time to be there.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: May, that's the female and juvenile molt.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: And uh the molt is actually a pretty fascinating on its own.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: They have something called a catastrophic molt, which means it's not just their hair that molts off.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: So with birds, for example, when they molt, they lose their feathers, the feathers grow back, life is good.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: With an elephant seal, they don't just lose their hair, they lose layers of skin, which is why we call it catastrophic.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's a big deal.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then if you go in October, you can see the juvenile haul out.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: The little juveniles are coming back and hanging out.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the best time for me to go is December, a little bit of November, a little bit of January.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: The big bulls are taking the beach, and that's when the fighting occurs.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean it's not it is always exciting to see animals fight.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: I was gonna say it's not, but that's not being honest with you, because it is.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I don't know exactly why.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: I don't slow down for auto accidents.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not looking for that.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: I don't watch movies that have those things, but there is something about watching two massive bulls go at it.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: And the time to do that is December plus or minus.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: These big bulls, they're coming down from the Aleutian Islands from Alaska.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: They've been doing nothing but feeding.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: They are as big as they can possibly get.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: They're looking to be massive, minimum of 5,000 pounds, and they come and they take that beach.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: Now, they're looking to carve out a spot on the beach.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: They're looking for a place that they can call their own where they can have their females gathered up.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: No different than a lot of mammals.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: Matter of fact, this parallels very much another episode we've done um about elk.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: And in September, when the when the big bull elk do their battling in an effort to establish, build, or steal a harem.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: That's what these big boys are doing.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: And they're coming on.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: So I mentioned to you we're in Southern, we're in Central California, just north of San Simeon.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's a place called Pietras Blancas.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: I believe I'm pronouncing that right.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'll put the name up on the screen.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: But P-I-E-D-R-A-S Blancas.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um that is the area where you pull off.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's well signed, it's easy to find.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and what you're gonna see when you get there is the largest mainland elephant seal rookery in the world.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's um now most of the elephant seal rookeries are on the islands, but this eight miles of coastland um is considered a single rookery, and it's the largest mainland rookery in the world.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: Now, you the area that where you can park, and there are boardwalks that end, so you can only go a certain way, you can go both to the left and the right.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: That's the main part of the rookery.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: There are other parts where they don't want humans there at all.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: They don't want you parking at the side of the road to take pictures or to jump the fence and climb down.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: They're trying to not bother the animals.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: But as always, we're trying to develop a balance.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: There's trying a balance developed between human and our curiosity and desire to see these animals and their need to be protected and to be able to fight and breed and pup and live and do all of the things that they do.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so this is how this balance has been achieved there.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: And it's interesting because this area, which is now again so massive um with uh with the elephant seals, they didn't start showing up there until 1990.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: So you're talking about 35, 36 years ago is when they first showed up.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: The first pup was born there in 1992.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's a very recent thing.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's just over a quarter of a century.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: Now, 25,000 elephant seals show up.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's it is loud and it is vibrant and it smells and it's powerful, and waves are crashing, and you're up on this boardwalk looking down at them.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: Some of them are right below you.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, five feet in front and then 20 feet down the boardwalk.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: They're right there.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: And and you there's some pictures up now showing how close they sit, they're on top of each other.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, and they just hack the beach.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: So again, if you go, let's we'll call it December, November, December, January, but you're looking at these battles, only 5% of the males do all of the mating.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: Those are the ones that are in charge, those are the beachmasters, is what they're called.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: Those are the biggest of the big boys, the baddest of the badasses.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: These are the giants, and they've defeated everybody else.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: And you look at the way they they announce themselves, which that alone is very exciting.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: So you've got gorillas, they beat their chest.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: That's how a big male gorilla lets everybody know it's in charge.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: An American bison paws the ground.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's their stamp of hey, I am in charge.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: I am the boss here.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: You guys need to listen to me.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: An elephant stands at its full height, raises its head, and spreads its massive ears and starts moving them.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: And that's how they announce their presence.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: A hippo, simple.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: They open their jaws.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: And if you've seen pictures, and I'm sure you have, or if you're fortunate enough, and we've seen them live, my wife and I, to see a hippo open their jaws to maximum width is an awe-inspiring and frightening thing.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: Elephant seals, they bellow.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: And this is where the name elephant comes in.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: They have a probuscis, it's an inflatable giant nose, if you will.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's huge and it rolls down, it seems to come out of their forehead and then roll down their face, and it's inflatable and it amplifies uh their vocalizations, and that's what they use in breeding season.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: That's how they announce they're there.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I've heard it called bugling, um, but elk bugle, it's kind of a high-pitched sound.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it carries and it's eerie, it's even ethereal.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but this this is a deep, resonant, powerful, primal sound.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: And when you hear a full-grown, angry, raging hormone bull elephant seal let out that sound, you're tempted to leave.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: You're tempted to get in your car, which, unless it's a big truck, weighs less than that elephant seal, and get out of there.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: And when they battle, it is ferocious.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: Now, they try not to battle.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: They're very happy if they can win based on intimidation, based on the sounds that they make, and standing up and their chest puffed out and staring down whoever is trying to either take what is theirs or who's trying to um establish their own herd.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: But if that doesn't work, if one of the two does not back down and they go to war, it is huge and it is violent and it is vicious.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: And when you look at an adult male elephant seal and they're easy to spot on the beach, you cannot confuse them for a female.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: But when you look at them, their necks, their chest are just blood red and scarred from the battles that they've had because they slam down onto their opponent, onto their neck, and they're trying to do maximum damage.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: And these necks, these bodies, you'll see them shake.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: There's five that you could be looking at a total of 10 or 12,000 pounds between the two elephant seals doing battle, and you watch this, and it's unbelievable.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: And that for that time when they're battling, and it's only a couple of minutes, because these aren't land animals, these are these are marine mammals, these are ocean animals.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: For them to be active on land is hugely, hugely burning up their energy.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's exhausting.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: They're at maximum weight.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, picture for those of you that are birders, um, how much weight birds put on before they take off for migration.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: Well, imagine that now with an elephant seal, because that's what they do in preparation for either attacking or defending.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: Either way, you're on a nasty end of a battle.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, one of the sad things that happens is some of the pups that are born during this time are crushed to death because the males are only focused on one thing, and that's the male directly across from them.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: So you've got an elephant seal pup, which in the scheme of things is rather large, 70, maybe up to 300 pounds.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: But compared to a five, six, even seven thousand-pound elephant seal with hormones raging and a single point of focus, they don't stand a chance.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so this is what you're watching uh if you get there at that time of year.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: Now, you take an elephant seal, let's say we take a big boy, 6,000 pounds, three tons.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: They're gonna go roughly a hundred days without eating.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: They never leave their harem.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: They don't eat, they don't drink, they're just focused on, again, either attacking an existing harem or defending one that they have.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: And in that hundred days, they can lose up to a third of their body weight, 2,000 pounds.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: They can actually lose one ton of weight in the in the 100 days that they are defending their territory.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's a remarkable thing that they survive at all.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: But when they're not there, when they leave to go on migration, and and the migrations for the females and the male elephant seals are different.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_01: But those migrations can go up to 13,000 miles round trip in a year.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: So they're doing a lot of swimming.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: 13,000 miles is the equivalent of five cross-country trips from LA to New York.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's a huge amount of mileage.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: Now, they spend roughly nine months of the year at sea.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: So they are they are spending a lot of time in the water.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: And when they're not here on this beach or at another rookery, they are in the water.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: And when they're in the water, they're almost always underwater.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they are not top-of-the-water animals.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: They are diving and eating.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's all they're doing.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: They dive normally a thousand to 2,500 feet deep, they're normally down 20 to 30 minutes, they come up, they expel some old air, they bring in some new, and they go back and do it again.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: The interviews at the surface are short.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: And in testing some of these animals, they have found that a big male elephant seal can dive up to 5,000 feet, one mile deep, and can stay down for two hours.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: They don't normally do that, but they can, and all they're doing is eating.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: They're just gathering up as much food and as much fat and as much blubber and as much weight and as much protection as they possibly can.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, life expectancy for the males, it's 13 years, for the females, it's 20 years.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: You think that difference might be explained by the battles they fight, and it has to have some impact.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: But oh needed that, thank you.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: But the biggest difference maker appears to be the difference in their lifestyles.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: The males live mostly along the shore, along the coast, the continental shelf.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: And what they're eating is there.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: They're going down to the bottom and scouring the bottom.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: And unfortunately, and almost surprisingly, um, they are predated.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: It is predation that lowers their expected life expectancy.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: Killer whales and great white whales are hunting male elephant seals.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: They find them, they kill them, they eat them.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: The same does not happen with the females.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason for that, and maybe the reason that they live 20 years, is because they go out into the open ocean.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: They are big open ocean hunters, and that's where they go.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so they are not generally predated by killer whales and great white sharks, so they get to live a little longer.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: And let's face it, they're not fighting, they're not having their bodies destroyed, not these massive weight increases and decreases, which at least in humans is not a healthy thing.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: I imagine it's not great for the elephant seals either.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: And so, if you have an opportunity to see them, um, if you can get up to San Simeon, you know, it's just just north of Morrow Bay.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's about a three-hour drive from the greater LA area and not much further from San Francisco.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're in California and you want to see something that is highly unusual, if not unique in nature, this is the place to see it.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I and I have to share with you, I'm working on a book now uh called American Safaris, 25 Epic Wildlife Spectacles is the subtitle.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: And this is one of them.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: And the idea is that there are places you can go in this country that if you go at the right time and you go to the right location, you're virtually guaranteed to see XYZ animal, whether it's osprey or alligator or humpback whales, uh, or black bears, or in this case, elephant seals.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, this is the place to go.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: And winter is the time to go.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: Early winter is the time to go.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: There are other places to see elephant seals that are relatively easy to get to.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: Point Reyes up in Northern California.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: I spent some time up there with elephant seals, and um, you can walk right out on the beach and uh and get relatively close.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: You don't want to get too close.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, not that they're going to attack you, but out of respect to them, they're trying to live.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: This is not a display to them.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, this is their actual life where their concern is eating and energy conservation and defending themselves and uh and making babies.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: So we try to stay away.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: Another amazing place to see them is San Miguel Islands, which is one of the Channel Islands in Southern California.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: You can get there uh on an Island Packers trip out of the city of Antura.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: We did a podcast very early on.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um did a podcast uh with the woman who runs uh Island Packers.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: But if you head out there, you can see up to 100,000 pinnipeds at the same time.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: 100,000 marine mammals, four different species.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's a remarkable thing to see.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: I used to be on the board of directors for the Friends of Channel Islands National Park, so we used to get to take a lot of trips out to the various islands.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: If you haven't been to those islands, it may be the most underutilized and undervalued of all of our 63 national parks.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: They're truly remarkable.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they have so many unique and unusual animals.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: They've got an endemic fox and an endemic blue jay, and they're just remarkable to see.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: So if you get a chance, do that.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: But if you just want something easy, if you're just taking a beautiful drive from LA to San Francisco, just outside of San Simi, maybe you stop and see the Hearst Castle, you gotta stop and see these.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I've seen people do that.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I've been there for hours at a time, and I've seen people that are there at the same time.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they have some groups at work, they have some docents that volunteer and give out information.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: On the other hand, there are people that pull up, they jump out of the car, they run over, they snap a couple of selfies, and jump back in the car having stretched their legs for five minutes, and they're good to go.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not judging which way you choose to watch these animals, but I think it's a mistake if you don't give it a shot.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna throw my email up here, Scott at naturally scott.com.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: You've got some questions, I'd love to answer them.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: You have suggestions, I'd love to listen to them.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're watching us on YouTube, uh do me a favor and hit subscribe.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: I love it when people subscribe to our channel.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: And every time that you do, YouTube pushes us out to more and more people.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: They're suggesting to others uh that they watch the show.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: And since all we're trying to do is talk about nature and all of its beauty and glory, it seems like a really good thing.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um we're not making money doing this, we're not selling commercials, we're simply out there trying to share a message about either the people that are in this world or and always the animals that are in this world.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're there at YouTube and you hit subscribe, you want to drop a comment or hit like, we appreciate that too.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: YouTube judges all those things, and I still think the more people, the merry.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: And by the way, if you're watching us on Apple or Spotify, thank you for doing that too.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: We really, really do appreciate it.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: I wrap up every show the same way.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna wrap this one up this way, which is get outside.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: There's always something to see.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: There's always something different, there's always something new.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta get out there.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: And again, whether outside is your front porch, your kitchen window, your backyard, a local park, a national park, an international trip, whatever you got going, you gotta get out there and see what's there because there's always something.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: I've got a trip coming up in two weeks, um, where I'm heading out to California.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'm working on chapters for the American Safari's book on humpback whales, California sea otters, um, and um California sea lions at Santa Cruz Wharf in Santa Cruz.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm so excited because I know I'm gonna see those animals.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: I'm likely to see killer whales, but I know some of there's gonna be something spectacular, something that I didn't expect.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: A humpback that breaches right next to the boat that we're on.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: A sea otter that swims right up to the catamaran that I'll be on when I'm not there.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: The last time I was on the Santa Cruz wharf, I was there.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, um uh the the month that a third of the wharf collapsed and fell into the ocean, which happened two weeks after I was there.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: But while I was there watching the California sea lines, a humpback whale, a baby, came, a juvenile, came right up to the wharf and apparently had been there for a couple of days and was there as long as I was there.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: Never expected to see that.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: So, as much as I'm looking forward to the things I am expecting to see on this California trip, I'm really looking forward to the things that I'm not expecting to see.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the other trip I have, and this one comes up next week, is um I'm going up to Cleveland, up to Lake Erie, uh to see the Raptor migration, the Falm After Raptor migration, with a big focus on the Broadwing Hawks.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll be doing um a naturally Scott Adventures about that and all the stuff we see in California.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: So we've got some great ones coming up.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for being a part of the show, and um I cannot wait until we get a chance to do the next one.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: You have a great day, stay safe, and stay curious.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'll talk to you soon.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: This is Scott Harris, and this is Naturally Scott, and this is Naturally Scott Adventures.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: Bye now.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: This has been a Naturally Scott Adventures podcast with Scott Harris.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: Naturally Scott Adventures is hosted by Scott Harris, produced by Justin Harris, and edited by Frank Sierra.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: Follow us on our YouTube channel at Naturally Scott and Instagram at Naturally Scott Harris.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: If this conversation resonated with you, please follow the show, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: Naturally Scott Adventures, thanks you for viewing and listening to this podcast.