These regions tend to border between sloughs and sawgrass marshes. Historically, Salmon creek consisted of tidal salt marshes with many sloughs mixed in. Animals living in the freshwater sloughs also inhabit marl prairies. These regions tend to be on the border between sloughs and sawgrass marshes. Golden shiners prefer quiet waters and are therefore found in lakes, ponds, sloughs, and ditches. The area around Castroville was crisscrossed by a network of sloughs and swamps. Duck hunting as well is popular in the waterfront sloughs and swamps to the north. Sloughs, or free-flowing channels of water, develop in between sawgrass prairies. Mink inhabiting the prairie sloughs primarily target frogs, tadpoles, and mice. Water in sloughs flows around the islands, creating moats. The excellent soil is interspersed occasionally with bluffs of aspen and some sloughs. The damaged tissue becomes gangrenous and eventually sloughs away. The necrotic tissue later sloughs off, leaving a hole. Most of the large sloughs around the bay have been protected with levees. Humboldt Bay and its tidal sloughs are open to fishing year-round.