If that picture didn't scare you off, buckle on your life jackets for one of our favorite kayaking adventures ever. We were given great advice to put our kayak in at Monterey Bay. Even standing on the sandy shore, we could see some curiously-shaped figures in the sea water of the bay.
When we zoomed in, we could see that those figures were actually sea otters. That's when Denisa started chanting the phrase that Mark would hear over and over this day, "They're SOOO cute!"
We climbed onto the rock jetty, and one of the otters swam close by to check us out.
He paused, holding on to the rocks of the jetty to give us a good once-over. All-righty, we think we have been approved to enter the water. Let's get the kayak unloaded!
We weren't the only kayakers in the bay on this beautiful morning. The local rental company had a good number of customers that were taking a guided kayak tour. The group of otters were getting tired of all the attention from the kayakers, so they were heading out under the bridge.
After we inflatable our trusty Sea Eagle kayak and carried it down to the sandy beach, it was an easy launch into the bay. After our last salt water launch when we had to get past the incoming waves, this was a piece of cake. We were in the bay with no waves, except for those caused by fishing boats coming in from the ocean. In the picture below, we can see the two tall smoke stacks that are good reference points for the entry point of the bay.
As we enter the bay, we instantly started seeing more sea otters. They lie on their backs, looking at their back flipper. Then they can use their tummies as dinner plates as they find things to munch on in the salt water around them.
This guy looked like he was saying his morning prayers with his hands clasped reverently in front of him. These sea otters are SOOO cute!
We planned our kayak trip around the tides. We are within an hour of low tide, so it is easy paddling going under the bridge and into the neck of water known as the Elk Horn Slough.
We've learned much about tides and ocean terminology since we've been around sea water. Being from land-locked Oklahoma, we didn't know about sloughs. First of all, that word is pronounced like "slew" and is an inlet of a river. Denisa uses this educational opportunity to insert more sea otter pictures.
Since it is near low tide, that means the water from the ocean is receding, so the water in this inlet is flowing against us as we paddle up-river. But the current is very manageable since it is so close to low tide. It is a great time to paddle deeper into Elk Horn Slough where more otters are resting in the kelp beds.
We learned that a group of sea otters is called a "raft." That's because they often wrap themselves in sea kelp to keep from floating out to sea. When they float together, they do look like a raft in the water. This guy is completely tangled in the kelp, and it looks like he is napping. He is SOOO cute!
Just in case it might sound like sea otters are the only animals in the slough today, we should insert a picture of an elegant white heron. Low tide is a great time to go fishing, and we watched as he caught a little one and swallowed it whole.
There were some giant brown pelicans preening themselves on the beach. It's hard to tell how big these birds are in a picture. We often put ourselves into the shot just to give some size reference, but that wasn't possible this time. But a mature brown pelican has an 8-foot wingspan.
We also saw big groups of seals lounging in the mud of the slough. One woke up to acknowledge us as we rowed by.
There were five mothers lying on the beach with their pups. It looked like this mom had a proud smile on her face.
This mother and tiny baby were just coming in from a swim.
There are signs to remind boaters to keep a good distance away from the wild animals, and we respected their territory. But sometimes they approached our boat, or popped up out of the water quite close to us. That's what happened with this seal that suddenly appeared right next to us. We can tell that this is a seal because of the tiny ear slit on the side of its head. A sea lion would have had an ear covering.
Besides the kayakers, there were a few tourist boats in the slough. This wild game safari was doing some shooting, but it all involved camera shots.
Some of our pictures even included seals in the foreground, with cormorants, sea gulls, and pelicans hanging out on the beach together.
But Denisa's favorite is still the sea otters. Some of them were eating this morning, and we can even see the detail of their little paws in the picture below.
It was a beautiful blue sky day, and we enjoyed paddling deeper into the slough. We had left the other kayakers close to the mouth of the slough.
That's when the drama began. The cormorant came up out of the water with a good-sized fish in his mouth!
He was a little too successful with this catch, because it was too big to swallow. He tried again . . .
We missed a shot of the tug-of-war that ensued, but the sea gull ended up marching away with the big fish in his beak while the cormorant looked away in disappointment.
The sea gull's plan was to peck off bite-size pieces, and it looks like his strategy was more successful. It was interesting watching as the marine drama unfolded on the sea shore.
It seems like we haven't had a picture of a sea otter lately, so this is a reminder that our favorite part of this kayak trip are still those cute little guys.
We have been out in the kayak long enough that we have gotten past low tide. We are actually in that magical time of slack tide when the water isn't coming in or going out. That's the best time to be kayaking, because there is not tidal current going either direction. These very calm waters were like a mirror image as one of our otter friends was the only thing causing a ripple in the water.
We had a loon swim in front of us. In between his dives under water for food, we caught him for a picture.
In the meantime, we have a pair of otters right beside us. We can't tell if they are fighting or playing, but they are fun to watch. They are incredibly graceful in the water as they roll and flip with no effort.
As we are nearing the exit out of the slough, we see that one of the otters has decided to spend some beach time. Now instead of graceful moves, we see something akin to an inch-worm. They use their front and back flippers as very awkward feet in the sand, then flatten out, as they inch their way along on dry ground.
We paddled out to the mouth of the bay. With the rock jetty to our right, we could see the ocean in front of us. We thought about paddling out into the open ocean. But we've been sitting in the kayak for over three hours by now, and the afternoon winds have come up to make the surf rough against the rocks.
The sea otter we watched inch his way across the beach was still laying in the sand as we beached our boat. As we got the kayak out of the water, he looked up but didn't offer to move.
After we got the kayak deflated and loaded back into the car, we walked over the sandy dune of the state park. That put us on the ocean side of the park, rather than the calm bay side where we had been boating. We were glad to have the protection of the bay today, as the winds were picking up now.
Just like this cute little sea otter, we pray that you have enjoyed our day among some of God's cutest creatures.
We conclude with yet another picture of a smiling otter. We both grinned when we looked back through the pictures taken this day. Mark can still hear Denisa giggling as she said over and over, "They are SOOOO cute!"
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