Año Nuevo State Reserve has been on my list of places to visit for a few years now. It’s a great spot to see and to photograph elephant seals during their breeding season, December through March. Guides accompany small groups of visitors to make sure the seals aren’t disturbed. Elephant seals were once hunted nearly to extinction, so it’s wonderful to see them enjoying the safety and security of this beautiful area of the California coast.

Año Nuevo State Reserve is the site of the largest mainland breeding colony in the world for the northern elephant seal. Huell ventures out to this low, rocky, windswept point jutting out into the Pacific Ocean 55 miles south of San Francisco to see hundreds of seals during breeding season.

(Click on the linked image below to see the video.)