About a three and one half hour drive north of San Diego is a grouping of islands off the California coast, which have contributed to a miraculous recovery. Myself and Ginny Busch - SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Conservation Ambassador - met up with Jack Hanna and his crew filming for an episode of the show, Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures. We actually recommended this spot and story because of our close association with the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute and the scientists who have been monitoring this amazing breeding spot for the past 23 years.

Here I am speaking with Dr. Brent Stewart

San Nicolas Island, our location, is outer-most in the Channel Island chain, located about 60 miles offshore from Ventura County, California. It's only 22 square miles, but accommodates tens of thousands of animals and four different species of pinnipeds during their most vulnerable times - breeding, birthing and molting seasons. We have timed our trip to coincide with the arrival of Northern elephant seals onto the beaches. Dr. Brent Stewart and Dr. Pam Yochem have been studying these animals since 1979 and acted as our guides as well as experts during this trip. We learned that just 100 years ago, elephant seals almost disappeared for good, after utilizing these islands for at least 500,000 years. Sealers and other hunters killed these unsuspecting elephant seals for oil and food, with museum scientists shooting seven of the last eight found on island colonies in Baja California in 1892. Luckily, there were a few left elsewhere to carry on the species, and today thanks to protection from hunting, they are back - in the incredible numbers we found before us on San Nicolas Island.

Jack and Dr. Pam Yochem watch as Dr. Stewart speaks

This time of year is puping and breeding season - they happen almost simultaneously for the thousands of mature females who need care for pups only about a month before accepting a male's vigorous insistence to mate. Then they are off to migrate and feed in colder waters. Later that year, the same group will return to molt their hair and skin, which comes off in almost disgusting clumps on the beach. They all disappear on their northward migration once more until it's time to begin the cycle again. Brent and Pam take turns telling of their amazing work both while the camera is rolling and while it is not. It's obvious the amount of dedication and fervor they have for their subjects and the islands that support them for short periods between their long ocean journeys.

An elephant seal pup nurses from its mother

Both Hubbs researchers have added massive amounts of information about these animals - their movements, health and population dynamics not only to the scientific community, but also to the human tenants occupying the island - the U.S. Navy. Dr. Yochem and Dr. Stewart's work on the island involves collaboration with other scientists and organizations. In addition to collecting data from free ranging animals here in the Channel Islands, Dr. Yochem has been sampling for disease exposure in rescued and rehabilitated animals at SeaWorld in San Diego. SeaWorld medical technologists help evaluate the results from both groups. Comparing results of blood samples aids scientists in distinguishing between relatively benign incidences and real population health threats. Thanks to cooperation between environmental officers, scientists and the military, not only are the elephant seals flourishing, but so too are other native flora and fauna, like the tiny San Nicolas Island fox and Coreopsis, a unique flowering plant.

Jack and Dr. Yochem observe a large elephant seal while Dr. Stewart looks on