Humungous Elephant Seals Have Taken Over This California Beach And Aren't Leaving

The recent government shutdown has had all sorts of unexpected consequences. For one California beach, it’s led to an invasion of stubborn elephant seals.

Because government workers who normally tend to Drake Beach in Point Reyes National Seashore were left unpaid, the beach was abandoned for weeks. With no humans around, seals moved in and made themselves comfortable. Now, they’re refusing to leave.

What’s more, the shutdown lasted long enough for the seals to actually have time to give birth to a few babies. The 35 to 40 pups that were born will likely need to stay on the beach with their mothers for the next couple of months.

Though National Park workers say that it might have once been possible to flap tarps at the seals to get them to move further down the beach, there are now simply too many of them to use that standard method. Here’s hoping the seals find a new home soon.

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