The instructions for the tour said to find a white van in the marina parking lot at 9 a.m. It turned out that the van was easy to spot.

Here is what the boat looked like docked in its slip at the marina. A flat pontoon boat with seating for up to 24 passengers at a time.

Before we could take the tour, we had to register with one or the other of two assistants and pay. Use of a credit card to pre-register on-line only held the reservation. The tour itself required payment in cash. Note that parking our car also required cash.

The tour began in the marina itself. One-sheet guides were handed out to aid in wildlife identification. And clickers were handed out to volunteers so that accurate counts of particular animals could be maintained for later reporting.

A Clark's Grebe was seen swimming in the marina. Many interesting birds were right there in the marina, but only visible close up if seen from a boat.

The captain saw that one fellow had a long lens on a tripod mounted camera. To secure the camera the captain used elastic bands to strap the tripod to the boat's railing. This illustrates just one of the many ways this tour was photographer friendly.

On the ocean side of the marina, a fishing boat was tied up to a fish processing dock. The presence of so many fish drew the attention of many gulls and pelicans.

A California brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) swam in the water near enough for a closeup look.

The fish processing dock was a magnet not just to gulls, but to pelicans too. The two different birds hung out together waiting for pieces of fish to accidently escape from the conveyer belts.

Pelicans stood, perched and walked among the machinery. Some moving at a high speed. As we passed, one pelican (not shown) got its foot caught between two pieces of sheet metal and was sadly flapping hard to escape. One the return trip we saw that the caught pelican had freed itself.

A raft of sea otters was floating just outside the marina on the way to the slough. A raft with this many otters was a rare sight. Note that the person with the clicker to count otters had to count all the otters in this raft. The captain and his two assistants helped.

Using binoculars or a telephoto lens, the raft of sea otters could be seen up close. Note that the otters were very aware of the boat and the raft might have broken apart if the boat had approached it too closely.

Several times during the trip, a sea otter would float, eat, and groom itself close enough to the boat to become a photo opportunity. Here, two photographers shot dozens of photographs of this sea otter.

This is one of the photographs of the sea otter. A 500 mm. lens was required to get a shot this close.

A new looking building with a long elevated walkway ending at a floating dock. Beyond the floating dock was the bridge over highway 1. The slough was beyond the bridge.

The floating dock at the end of the elevated walkway was filled with sea lions. Note that the person with the clicker for sea lions had to count all these animals. Naturally the captain and his two assistants helped.

A close up of one of the sea lions was only possible with a telephoto lens. These animals are large, heavy and strong, and don't take kindly to boats getting too close to them.

Three other people watched the same sea lions but from the elevated walkway. We presume the walkway is free, so these sea lions can be observed without the cost of a cruise.

Notice that young sea lions sleep atop older, larger sea lions. The pile may appear haphazard, but there is a pecking order involved.

Elkhorn slough is just a large waterway that feeds through a much larger surrounding nature preserve called the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve.

In the old days before it was crossed by a low bridge, this waterway was used by large boats. This was one of the old bollards that ships could tie up to.

The ribs of an old wrecked boat jutted out of the water and provided a place for birds to perch.

A harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina) lay on the shore and watched the boat motor past. Note that harbor seals, unlike sea lions, lay individually on shore rather than pile in a group on a floating platform.

A couple of marbled godwits birds were part of many seen on shore that day. The one on the left was about to take flight . Note that closeups like this required binoculars or a telephoto lens.

A Snowy Egret was one of several seen that day.

This trip was in the spring so flowers were in bloom along the shore. Despite the look of spring, the day was overcast and cold and rain was due that afternoon.

Harbor seals laid up on shore became a photo opportunity. The overcast day provided shadow free light for great photographs. All around were the sounds of shutters clicking, and water lapping, and the smell of the ocean.

A closeup of a harbor seal pup on shore. This shot required a 500 mm. telephoto lens. Note that seal pups are usually born in February.

One out-cropping of land was a perching place for many cormorants. On this day, a lesser flamingo (Phoenicopterus minor) also stood on shore. It was tagged and obviously had escaped from somewhere, or was let loose by someone.

The vertical ribs of a sunken boat provided perching for a flock of terns. As the boat approached, one after the other each in turn took flight.

A pair of Canada geese walked along the shore. The overcast lighting that day unfortunately reduced the visual sense of separation between the geese and the background.

A great egret stood on shore next to a "No hunting and no trespassing" sign. A bit of land at the end of the slough appeared to be privately owned.

At the end of the slough to the east was a low hill with cattle grazing on its top. Majestic oak trees completed the idyllic setting.

At the far end of the slough, another path appeared to lead into the nature reserve.

Low rain clouds continued to spread over and darken the sky. A few drops fell mid cruise, but the heavy rain held off until after the cruise had finished.

The captain took photographs of couples using the couple's camera. A nice touch that helped make this wonderful cruise even more memorable.

The tour boat turned and we began our return trip back to the marina. We passed the ship wreck again, but not as close the second time.

That morning was very chilly indeed. Everyone wore coats. Some wore hats. And one wore ear muffs. The boat was approaching the out-cropping with the flamingo again.

Rounding the out-cropping the flamingo came into view again. A stark contrast to the black cormorants surrounding it.

The way back passed the other shore with this forest lining the water's edge. Notice the lush growth following an unusually long season of rain.

A house seen on shore was part of Moss Landing the town.

Individual kayaks were another way to tour the slough. A good way to sneak up close to animals and birds, but not a good way to photograph them.

The pilings of the bridge over the slough. This is California highway one passing overhead. It is this bridge that barred heavy ships from entering the slough.

One way to know you have reached Moss Landing is by spotting the huge power station stacks that lay alongside California highway one.

Entering the marina again, we passed a fishing boat pulled part way out of the water. An assortment of birds were perched on it. Note the lower right of the shot were a pelican is being photographed.

The pelican that was photographed perched on the fishing boat. This was among the last shots taken because the cameras had to be repacked prior to disembarking from the boat.