Elephant Seals at Piedras Blancas, CaliforniaBaby elephant seal, which are called blackcoats, is asking to nurse. The female ignores it. She may not be the mother, or may be a first-time mother, and is not responding to it. The blackcoats nurse for four weeks, and gain 200+ pounds, and then the mothers swim away, leaving them to learn how to swim and fish on their own.