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Bay Area: Get your best shot on a photo tour to elephant seal colony

A mother elephant seal with her pup. The marine mammals join breeding colonies along California's central coast every winter.
A mother elephant seal with her pup. The marine mammals join breeding colonies along California’s central coast every winter.
(Stephen Osman / Los Angeles Times)
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Daily Deal and Travel Blogger

Want to snap photos of elephant seals and their pups on the California coast? Ano Nuevo State Park north of Santa Cruz, Calif., boasts one of the largest breeding colonies in the world for northern elephant seals, and now you can take a tour that gives you great shots.

The Coastside State Parks Assn. offers photography tours in January and February to the best viewing spots in the state park. Participants receive early-morning access to the elephant seal rookery when the public isn’t usually admitted. Each tour is limited to eight photographers and is led by a park ranger.

The photography tour does some good too: Funds raised by the association go to educational programs at Ano Nuevo and other coastal state parks in the area. (These tours are different from the $7 guided walks to see elephant seals offered Dec. 15 to March 31 at the state park.)

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Dates: Tours are 6 a.m.-9:30 a.m. on Jan. 18 and 24, and Feb. 1 and 8 (and they sell out quickly).

Price: $200 a person, plus $10 for the parking fee at the state park. The price includes the ranger-led tour; transportation to and from the park is extra.

Information: Coastside State Parks Assn. or click here to purchase tickets.

Mary.Forgione@latimes.com

Follow us on Twitter @latimestravel, like us on Facebook @Los Angeles Times Travel.

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