Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve

Soundtrack:

• The Decemberists -- The Hazards of Love
• Sleater-Kinney -- No Cities to Love
• Red House Painters -- Old Ramon

If you're in Northern California looking for a place to go kayaking, this is the spot.  There's a ton of wildlife, the waters are calm and while the current can be strong at points in the slough it's always manageable, at least from my experience.

Moss Landing, CA

Jim and I drove down Moss Landing on Saturday for a little kayaking excursion.  We spent a couple of hours on the water with the seals and sea otters.  Unfortunately the traffic was nasty getting there, but it didn't mar the experience.

Harbor Seal -- Moss Landing, CA

As usual, the seals were hauled out in the sandbar in the harbor.  The tide was sort of low making the passage to the back of the harbor narrow.  Even as we hugged the opposite side of the passage we ended close enough to the seals to smell 'em.  They stink, if you were curious.  Cuddly looking, though.

Harbor Seal -- Moss Landing, CA

Harbor Seal -- Moss Landing, CA

Harbor Seal -- Moss Landing, CA

Harbor Seal -- Moss Landing, CA

A sea otter had hauled out near the seals.  Their size is deceptive.  They look a lot smaller in the water, I suppose because their heads don't seem to match the size of their bodies.  This particular otter was almost as large as some of the smaller seals and much larger than the little guy in the photo above.

Southern Sea Otter -- Moss Landing, CA

Southern Sea Otter -- Moss Landing, CA

A raft of otters has always been present every time I've visited Moss Landing.  This time was no different, although this time they weren't lacked closely together.  From what I've read it's only the males that gather together in groups like this.  The ladies tend to keep to themselves, especially when they have youngsters.  There was at least one mother and pup in the estuary and later in the harbor.  She and her young one seemed to keep their distance from the rough and tumble groups of what I presumed were males.

Southern Sea Otter -- Moss Landing, CA

Southern Sea Otter -- Moss Landing, CA

Southern Sea Otter -- Moss Landing, CA

We saw a lot of birds as well.  I don't take a lot of pictures of gulls, mostly because they're so damned hard to identify.  Heerman's gulls are easy, though, and they're pretty in a way most gulls aren't, so I don't hesitate to fire away at a heerman's.

Heerman's Gull -- Moss Landing, CA

There were a few common loons hanging around as well.  They're sightly birds.

Common Loon -- Moss Landing, CA

Common Loon -- Moss Landing, CA

We encountered a number of otters in the slough.  They seem to have life figured out.  Float around on their backs.  Eat fresh seafood.  Primp.  Float some more. Not a bad life, if you ask me.

Southern Sea Otter -- Elkhorn Slough, CA

Elkhorn Slough, CA

Southern Sea Otter -- Elkhorn Slough, CA

Southern Sea Otter -- Elkhorn Slough, CA

After kayaking, I took a leisurely drive up the coast to Half Moon Bay where I cut over on 92 to get home.  All in all, it was a pretty great day.

Pigeon Point Lighthouse, CA

Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve

Moss Landing, CA

June 22, 2014

I finally busted out the kayak at Elkhorn Slough.  This has been my goal since Jim gave me the boat at Christmas.  I had a great time, but I have to admit at times it was a bit stressful.

Moss Landing, CA

Harbor Seal

This was the first real day trip I've made with the kayak.  I've taken it out a few times before on the Oakland/Alameda Estuary, but that's more like a neighborhood stroll than a boating excursion.  To make the kayak road worthy I had to add a couple of bolts to it to tie it down for the drive.  I've been using the handles it came with to drive it to the estuary boat ramp, which has worked well for those short drives of less than two miles, but I didn't trust that for the open road.  I was able to drive worry-free with the new set up.

Moss Landing, CA

Southern Sea Otter

The Moss Landing harbor is one of the best places I know of to see marine mammals in their natural environment.  Every time I've been there I've seen a raft of sea otters out in the harbor.  I've also always seen harbor seals on the sand and sea lions on the docks.  Each species seems to have its area clearly demarcated.

Southern Sea Otter -- Moss Landing, CA

Southern Sea Otter

My favorite, of course, are the sea otters.  Love those little guys.  I've read that it's unusual for them to gather in large groups, in fact Elkhorn Slough is one of the few places in the world it's known to occur on a regular basis.  It's mostly males that hang out here, although I did see a mother and cub in the raft.  The boys are rambunctious.  They like to wrestle and roll around together.  Of course, they also like to eat.

Southern Sea Otter -- Moss Landing, CA

California sea lions hang out on the docks near the entrance to the slough.  They're a rowdy bunch.

California Sea Lion -- Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, CA

California Sea Lion

Entering the slough was a little intimidating.  Besides the raucous group of pinnipeds throwing taunts and insults from the nearby floats, a strong tidal current was flowing into the estuary.  The current tossed my little boat around a bit.  I don't yet have a good sense of how strong I am as a kayaker, so I was a little worried about fighting the tide to get out of the estuary, especially considering high tide was still at least four hours away.

Brown Pelican -- Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, CA

Common Loon

I drifted about a mile into the estuary before deciding I didn't want to risk getting stuck back in there until nightfall.  As I drifted, I came across a seal and a cormorant.  I saw a large black and white bird on the shore on the other side of the estuary, so I paddled across to have a closer look.  It was a common loon.  They're not often seen on land, but this one had an injured leg.  Poor guy.

Brandt's Cormorant -- Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, CA

Southern Sea Otter

 Paddling back out of the slough wasn't too bad.  It got a little hairy going under the highway.  The current wanted to drive me into the pilings, so I had to work a bit to avoid that.  I was also a little worried about getting pushed into the sea lion docks.  I made it into the calm waters of the harbor without too much trouble, though.  I'm definitely more confident about going deeper into the slough next time.

Southern Sea Otter -- Moss Landing, CA

Caspian & Elegant Terns -- Moss Landing, CA

Harbor Seal -- Moss Landing, CA

Southern Sea Otter

The highlight of the day for me was seeing sea otters on land.  That was a first for me.  They don't look much smaller than harbor seals when they're hauled out.  Cuter, though.  It's easy to imagine why their fur was so highly sought after by Russian traders.  I think I'd have a hard time killing one of these little guys, though.

Southern Sea Otter -- Moss Landing, CA

Southern Sea Otter -- Moss Landing, CA

Southern Sea Otter -- Moss Landing, CA

Brown Pelican -- Moss Landing, CA