Ecological Musings: Elkhorn Slough, Moss Landing, CA -- June 20th, 2025


Background:

I’m currently taking a California Ecology class. One of the class assignments is to keep a field journal of each of our weekly trips. Today’s journal is about seeing cute sea otters, harbor seals, and sea lions at Elkhorn Slough!

Baseline Data

Name: Elkhorn Slough (National Estuarine Research Reserve)

Address: Near Moss Landing, Monterey County, California

Coordinates: ~36.800° N, 121.788° W (approximate mouth at Moss Landing)

  • Date: June 20, 2025

  • Time: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM

🌤️ Weather Overview

  • Temperature:

    • High: 66 °F

    • Low: 47 °F

  • Cloud Cover: Mostly Sunny

  • Wind:

    • Direction: WSW (~240°)

    • Speed: 11 mph (gusts up to 16 mph)

  • Humidity: 63%

  • Precipitation: ~1% chance (effectively none)

Okay so Elkhorn Slough is definitely on my list of favorite new hikes I discovered through this class. Never before have I seen more marine mammals in one location. Not only that, but apparently there are also other cool animals liker rays and leopard sharks that I didn’t end up seeing, but that my classmates did see. The animals I came across included sea otters, a California tree frog, harbor seals, and sea lions. It’s always so wonderful to see animals thriving in their natural element in the wild instead of seeing them somewhere sad like an aquarium or a zoo. What was especially cute was that we got to see otters cracking open little bivalve shells to eat the contents. And it was so cute to watch them roll around in the water and groom themselves!

a delicious wild blackberry

Now, you know, I don’t come to play when it comes to wild berries. And LO AND BEHOLD. We happened to come across some wild blackberries. These might have been some of the best berries I’ve had all quarter. I’ve never tasted anything quite like them. They were tart, but so delicious. And they were quite long and slender, unlike any berry I’ve seen before.

I was surprised by how interactive the California sea lions and harbor seals were — particularly with each other. I managed to capture a video of the sea lions staring up at us, in a group of three, as a number of birds descended on a bait ball in the ocean around them.

We then crossed Moss Beach where we were absolutely pounded by the wind. I literally had to get my glasses lens repaired after this because the sand (as it flew around everywhere) scratched up my lenses so badly. We did, however, come across a lot of very pretty sea shells which may have ended up making the whole ordeal worth it.

And that’s a wrap! That was the last hike of the class! I’m so glad I ended up following through with taking this class when I was considering doing it for fun last quarter. Truly, it was everything I thought it was going to be and more :)

Some beach shenanigans with Max, London, and Abdullah

huda .