Point Reyes Officials Install Concrete Barriers to Keep 5,000 Pound Elephant Seals Out of the Parking Lot

Flickr/Rick Berg

Drake’s Beach in the Point Reyes National Seashore is home to some of the most robust marine wildlife of any beach in California. In fact, officials have had to frequently close down the popular beach due to seal activity and now, they are trying to keep the wildlife from entering the beach’s parking lot.

Officials have installed temporary concrete barriers between the beach and parking lot to keep elephant seals, sometimes as large as 5,000 pounds, from entering the parking lot. Point Reyes officials took to social media to announce the new barriers and remind the public to keep a safe distance from the massive elephant seals, even if they make their way into the parking lot:

“If you see an elephant seal outside of the closed areas, please remember to enjoy viewing them from at least 25 ft away (or two car lengths),” officials wrote in the social post. “Be aware of your surroundings and don’t get in between two male seals because you never know when one might want to start a fight with the other. They are faster than you think!”

This is far from the first time seals have cause issues for officials and the visiting public at Drake’s Beach. Following a 35-day government shutdown in January 2019, a colony of 1,500 elephant seals took over the popular beach, forcing officials to close it for a long period of time.

See the beautiful seals in action:

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