PIEDRAS BLANCAS, Calif. -- Scientists are seeing positive changes in some fish species after 29 Marine Protected Areas were set up across the Central Coast.
Piedras Blancas has a growing population of elephant seals that were once thought to be extinct.
The seals were in their breeding cycle, basking in the sun and sand but for these creatures, life wasn't always this way.
"They were down to fewer than a hundred animals," says Docent Brandt Kehoe.
That's a common theme for marine animals across the Central Coast, so in response, the state set up Marine Protected Areas.
"(Many) Marine Protected Area are designed specifically for recreation use," says fisherman Jim Webb.
"No commercial extraction of resources is allowed, so that means there's no commercial fishing allowed here. You can't dig up the gravel and sell it. This is meant to preserve resources."
Now on the fifth anniversary of setting up the Marine Protected Areas, scientists say marine animals are not only coming back, they're flourishing.
Scientists says they're seeing some fish species, such as types of rockfish, respond.
"Exciting to see how the species are coming back!" says Webb. "And the size of the fish seem to be getting bigger."
In fact, elephant seals can grow to massive sizes. The average male can be as long as 15 feet and weigh more than a ton.
"Their population has increased now to somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000," says Kehoe.
Which is a sign for fisherman Jim Webb, Marine Protected Areas are working.
"Things have seemed to really pick up and we've has a lot of good luck out here," says Webb.
"(In)some unique and irreplaceable habitat."
Scientists and state resources plan to reveal their findings to politicians at a symposium in Monterrey next week.
