A group of elephant seals took advantage of the quiet on Drakes Beach during the government shutdown to knock down a fence, get cozy in the sand, and nurse their pups. There are reportedly about 60 seals and 30 pups there right now. The government is open again, but the sea mammals are standing their ground. On Saturday, park rangers started giving guided tours of the beach the animals have conquered. Read on for more!

The occupation started when the seals knocked down a fence. Undeterred by the usual human presence on the beach, they set up camp. The entire Drakes Beach area is now closed to the public, “to better protect the elephant seals from disturbance,” the NPS said.

Females, who gestate for about seven months, will birth just one precious pup and they need this beach time to fatten up their babes in a hurry, and get them ready to swim. Rangers and volunteer docents have opened the parking lot back up now that the shutdown is over, and they are giving guided tours of the makeshift seal nursery, walking people to the edge of the lot so they can get a closer look at the seals and their pups.

It’s an unusual sight: elephant seals spend most of the year at sea, migrating from California and Mexico to Alaska and the north Pacific. They are impressive divers and swimmers, reaching depths of 300 feet deep or more, and typically staying underwater for 20-30 minutes at a time. They log up to 21,000 miles at sea every year.

There are more than 100,000 of the elephant seals off the California coast during breeding season. About 60 of the adults and 30 pups have made it to this particular beach, according to SF Gate.

The seal pups have a lot of growing to do during this time. They weigh around 65 pounds when they’re first born, but they’ll triple their birth weight during the first month of life, as they nurse by their mother’s side. They’ll also “molt” (shed) their baby black fur coat and replace it with a silver one that looks more grown-up.

After about 28 days, the seal mommas will abruptly get up and leave. The baby seals are left to their own devices on the beach, to figure out how to swim and catch fish. It’s quite the weaning strategy.