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For me, it was enlightening to see how much I was missing when I travel my normal mode.

 That's a very insightful observation. Slowing down is ideal but even if you can't, it pays too keep your head on a swivel and the noise to a minimum. Obviously you need to pay attention to your paddling path, but I've seen so many wild critters by initially catching the flash of movement out of the corner of my eye. You can't do this is you have the paddling version of " White Line Fever"