There are two seal haul-outs in the first third of the slough, where the mammals relax during low tide. Although you may see the rare seal head pop out of the water, most seals avoid boats and become agitated if you go too near. Staying to the channel's center, you can see beachfuls of seals with their young. The first of these beaches lies just in front of a favorite pelican hang-out. Although some pelicans migrate to mate in Baja, juveniles remain behind all year.
Brown pelicans are the most graceful gliders on the slough, but the clumsiest fishers around.
Singly, or in groups of up to seven, brown pelicans swoop low over the slough, skimming inches above the flat surface. Occasionally, they get so close, their wing tips toss up tiny drops of water. From a kayak, you can see the pelicans' soft lower beak waft up and down in time with their beating wings as they fly low overhead. Crash-landing in a flurry of feathers, feet and beak, the birds rest motionless for a few moments, then gulp down their feast. Until I purchased my waterproof bird guide, terns and gulls seemed one and the same.