Calm Waters

This time of year we get questions about the weather. Wintertime is some of the best wildlife watching as storm waves chase all sorts of critters into the quiet calm waters of the Elkhorn Slough. For example, we get much higher sea otter numbers and rarer sea going birds. The "weather windows" are nearly always full of sunshine. Much of the wildlife stays for days enjoying the new peaceful habitat.
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Birds and Birding at Its Best

The Fall bird migration is well underway. The numbers and variety is up! The smaller shorebirds are in very high numbers, so high that the mudflats appear to be alive and walking about. These Western Sandpipers travel great distances from Northern tundra to South America - and our Elkhorn Slough is just a rest stop along the way. They feed and fuel up here for the next leg of the journey. --- Capt

Captain Pumpkin

Employees at the Elkhorn Slough Safari work hard to make your slough adventure wonderful and informative. Taking a break from tours, they held a pumpkin carving competition. All jack-o-lanterns had to look like our Captain Yohn. Winner for the Most Like the Captain and the Funniest Captain were awarded.

Film on the Slough

Since I started working for the Elkhorn Slough Safari I’ve gained priceless knowledge about filming and photographing marine mammals in their natural state. For example, taking video in a moving environment using stabilizers, and that lighting in late afternoon gives spectacular footage. I hope the great information that I am learning on the Elkhorn Slough Safari will help me further my future career in creating nature documentaries as a filmmaker. ---Naturalist Cody

Elegant Terns

You can see the season turn with the rotation of the Terns. This photograph is of Elegant Terns that frequent Elkhorn Slough in late Summer and early Fall. Winter brings the Forster's tern, and Spring brings the Caspian Tern. Other occasional terns spotted on safari are the Least, Black, and Common terns plus the Black Skimmer. -- Capt. Yohn

Girlfriends on the Slough

Our friend Pat has been on the pontoon boat way over 10 times! She tells us that it is amazing that she sees new things each time she goes. What she likes most is sharing the experience with her friends. This photo is from her last trip out with us, she brought some of her high school graduating class from Minnesota. -- Captain Yohn

Photography Safari

These friends just took a private charter on our Elkhorn Slough Safari in search of the perfect photo.
Photo Buds Comment: "We've been on ES Safari 4 or 5 times now, and Captain Yohn always gets us in position for some GREAT wildlife shots, but that is not the reason we go. The main reason is it is so peaceful up Elkhorn Slough, nobody hassles us, and we are around the people we want to be with. It is a great adventure experience with your buddies!"

Sea Otters Galore

I used visit the Monterey Bay all the time in search of my favorite
furry friends, sea otters. I used to get ecstatic if I saw maybe one or two otters in the wild. But now that I work for the Elkhorn Slough Safari I look forward to seeing rafts of otters nearly everyday in their natural habitat. Today we actually saw 66 otters up close and personal, but that’s not all we also saw 159 harbor seals and over 47
species of birds. These tours are more than just tours, they’re an experience of a lifetime.
Naturalist/ Biologist Kelsi

The wonderfully mild days of summer are with us. This morning we spotted a raft of sea otters. It is really something to see these in person and in the wild. I go out nearly every day, but they always catch my attention. --- Elkhorn Slough Naturalist

We’ve been enjoying clear skies and a tremendous array of wildlife including birds, harbor seals, and sea otters! We’ve been having a blast and we are excited to welcome our new full time naturalist, Kelsi Rey. Kelsi has a biology degree from CSU Stanislaus. She has an infectious energetic spirit and her knowledge and enthusiasm make her an exciting new addition to our team. One of her tours has already been featured in July, 2008 Bay Area Parent Magazine!

Starting Out

Hello

This is our very first post to our new blog. The captain and crew will be posting stories and sightings from our Elkhorn Slough Safari boat tours here. We look forward to sharing the slough with you.

http://www.elkhornslough.com

-- the Capt.