Elephant seal says: 'Ah, yes. Scratch. Scratch. Read the Morning Scratch!'(P.S. Photos were taken by the Investor several weeks ago.)
By Bogdan
Morning Scratch editor
Before the facility went wonky, the investor would make sure $2o-$25 would go to a charitable organization each month. We haven't done that since January, and here it is May already!
The Editorial Board plans to feature a nonprofit group/good cause each month in The Morning Scratch, but in the future the newspaper will do so near the beginning of the month. Look for it, and take part with whatever you are able to give or buy from the organization's store. If you can't contribute money, write the volunteers a note letting them know you appreciate their efforts!
The Morning Scratch charity for May is Friends of the Elephant Seal. Here are 13 reasons to support the organization based out of Cambria, Calif., which is about 25 miles from the Morning Scratch facility.
1. Elephant seals scratch themselves with their flippers. (See photo above.) It's very cute.
2. The northern elephant seal spends most of its time in the open ocean, going on land only for breeding, birthing, molting and (not surprisingly) resting.
3. They return to the same rookery each year.
4. They make loud noises - such as burps, snorts (Kazumi! Ha-ha!) and grunts - that make the Investor giggle.
5. The Piedras Blancas rookery near the Morning Scratch facility is home-base for up to about 16,oo0 elephant seals. Holy Moly!
6. They like to dig in the sand, like us cats! But for different reasons. Elephant seals flip sand on themselves to help stay cool. The sand acts as a sunscreen. (In the photo below, you can see some sand-flippin' flippers.)
7. Unfortunately there were no mature males on the beach when the Investor visited recently, but elephant seals are called elephant seals because the males have elephant noses. How goofy. Go look here.8. Like hissing, an important part of a good fight is, simply, screaming. Go look here.
9. Blubber isn't as awesome as fur, but it's still pretty awesome.
10. They are beach bums.
The beach bums.11. Elephant seals will squish you if they sit or lie on you. Male elephant seals can weigh 5,000 pounds.
12. The Friends of the Elephant Seal almost always has a docent at the rookery to answer questions and to protect the seals from "bad" visitors. There has never been a day when the Investor has gone and there wasn't a knowledgeable and friendly volunteer to answer all and any questions. That's dedication!
13. Kat 3 loves elephant seals so much, she dressed up as one!
Kat 3 says: 'Snort! SNORT!'HOW TO HELP:
Go to the Friends of the Elephant Seal Web site at www.elephantseal.org to find a donation form and the group's shop.
Go to the Friends of the Elephant Seal Web site at www.elephantseal.org to find a donation form and the group's shop.
11 comments:
Very interesting! And Kat 3 looks very cute as a seal!
What a wonderful thing you are doing with the Morning Scratch! And very interesting and well photographed. ...Kat3, you make a pretty convincing Seal! :)
This is fantassssstic. We will help! They are a lot like kitties, I think. Kat3 looks great as a seal!
<3 ~ C + P
Kat3 looks just like an elefant seel! We almost din't know it was her.
5,000 pounds! And I thought my dad weighed a lot!
Funny Kat3!
Charity of the month is a very good idea! And I think the elephant seals are very deserving. Even if they are beach bums.
wow! we nefurr know what we'll see on the scratch, but it's allus interesting!! that's a splendid look for k3--if skeezy has anofurr halloween contest, we bets she'd win!
Wow. And here I thought I was having overcrowding problems with the Brats. At least they only weigh no more than 25lbs. I couldn't imagine a Brat that weighed 5,000!
Very nice to pick a charity. The Elephant Seals are great beach bums. 5,000 pounds, wow. That's 500 of me.
Be blessed,
Samantha & Tigger
That is a wonderful idea to support a charity every month! :) I enjoyed learning about elephant seals from your list. They certainly are big animals!
I didn't know seals snorted! Love it!!
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