AP Environmental Science teacher Kristen Thomson has been bringing her APES classes to the Año Nuevo State Park in Pescadero since 2010. This year marked the 14th field trip to the park.
The field trip was split between the Red Day class on March 12, with a total of 28 students and two additional chaperones assistant principal Matthew Torrens and special education teacher Brian Elliot, and Blue Day classes traveling there on March 13 with 77 students and six additional chaperones.
“Ano Nuevo is an easy-to-get-to day trip that’s accessible because of the low entry fee,” Thomson said. “It gets students outdoors for exercise, and we always have tour guides to teach students along the way.”
In separate tour groups of approximately 15, students hiked a mile into the park where docent naturalist volunteers awaited. The naturalists then served as tour guides around the park, stopping at different stations to talk about the lifestyle of elephant seals as well as the significance and history of the area.
A docent naturalist volunteer talks about the breeding habits of female elephant seals.
The highlight of the trip for many students was the opportunity to observe elephant seals sprawled across the beach during their annual breeding season. Fasting to conserve energy, the seals remain onshore for months in the spring, resting and preparing for their return to the ocean.
Students saw hundreds of weaners (a recently weaned pup that remains on the beach before heading to sea), pups, grown males and females lying across the beach.
“The elephant seals were really interesting because they rarely come onto land but we were able to observe them from less than a dozen feet away,” senior Aaradhya Patil said.
Video by Amy Luo
Elephant seals lying on the beach on March 13.
Even though the weather was sunny on Thursday’s trip, there were heavy winds and sharp rain on Wednesday. Winds upwards of 40 miles per hour hit the students across the entirety of the hike, making the journey challenging.
“The weather was extremely rainy and windy,” Patil said. “After a few steps into the rain I wanted to turn back. It felt like I was being pushed forcefully in whatever direction the wind wanted me to go.”
According to Thomson, the male elephant seals were more active on March 13 because of the chilly conditions, while the pups played much more the next day because they didn’t have to conceal their body heat as much.
“The trip is a compilation of all the stuff they already learned packed into one trip, and students get to see the actual application,” Thomson said. “Every year it’s different, like with the number of elephant seals and what they are up to, so it never gets boring for me.”
