I was expecting good times kayaking in Elkhorn Slough (California coast) because of the ~150 sea otters. But the highlight by far was this black sea hare (Aplysia vaccaria, a kind of slug). Gigantic! Amazing! And yes slimy.

Our guide Lauren the slug-whisperer knew some pilings where they can sometimes be found. Here's @rachelkonrad handing the sea hare back to Lauren after a little cuddle.

It was gigantic. Here you can see its "ears," whence the name sea hare. I don't know if they call the front of its snout a mustache but that's what I was thinking. @rachelkonrad was charmed.

Our 4yo was pretty leery but mustered the courage to give it a little pet.

And by the way @bonniegrrl wrote about these sea hares for CNET: https://www.cnet.com/news/behold-a-giant-black-slug-as-big-as-a-chihuahua/

Here are its eggs. The black sea hare Lauren found was one of a group of 7 (I will think of these guys now every time I hear about the G7). They hook up in "daisy chains" which for aquatic hermaphroditic creatures is apparently a pretty exciting event.

Here is another photo where the black sea hare's ears (rhinophores) are perkier.

Our tour was with @KayakConnection in Moss Landing, California. Thumbs up.

Here's a bit of the video I took so you can get a better feel for what it's like to hold a black sea hare. They eat algae and eelgrass, by the way. If you missed the top of this thread, we saw this one while we were kayaking at Elkhorn Slough north of Monterey, California.

It felt like firm grape jelly, only not sticky afterward.