This sea otter has a blue tag (502) on its right fin and a red tag (unable to read the numbers) on its left fin.

After emailing Monterey Bay Aquarium about this observation I learned that "the sea otter you saw was tagged as part of population research being led by UC Santa Cruz. This animal was tagged in Elkhorn Slough, so having a visual of her outside the estuary is a great data point for them."

This is my 2,000th observation for iNaturalist: three osprey were circling and diving catching fish. These are the best of the photos I took...what an awesome and epic thing to see! (Also I feel bad for the people fishing in kayaks because they aren't nearly as good at this fishing business as the gorgeous osprey are...)

In this observation there are two juvenile and two adult bald eagles. (I was only able to photograph the adults individually though - one adult was in an adjacent tree and one adult was in the tree with the juveniles - and I wasn't quick enough to capture them both flying when they traded places.) I spent an hour on the Sawmill Cove trail observing these. The juveniles were so loudly begging for food. The adults were so loudly crying to each other. What an overwhelmingly awesome experience. I stood on the foundation remains of one of the Sawmill Cove structures to take these photographs. I have so many more, but I think the ones shared here are the best. (Well they're all the best to me...) BEST INATURALIST MOMENT FOR ME EVER!