2 - Back from the Abyss, Population Recovery, and Genetic Aftermath

Summary

It is rare for an animal population to recover from near extinction, grow, and flourish at a time when so many species are going extinct. The remnant population of elephant seals increased slowly at first from approximately 30 individuals on a remote, volcanic island far from the coast of Mexico in 1890 to 300,000 animals breeding at 13 rookeries in Mexico and California today. The pattern of recovery is detailed. The settlement and growth of the Año Nuevo colony is described as well because of the concentrated study of the seals at this rookery from resettlement in 1961 to the present. The consequences of going through a population bottleneck and losing genetic variation implies that the present population is less adaptable to changes in the environment than the population that existed prior to 1800.