Trip Reports

Dear whalewatchers: After a beautiful sunrise at Isla Cerralvo, we had perfect ocean conditions but very little wildlife action for the morning. However things heated up around lunchtime as we found bottlenose dolphins with a juvenile humpback, several more humpbacks, and even a trio of humpbacks (mother, calf and escort) that allowed us to observe [...]

We have great whalewatching weather today so we are “Searching…”

Dear whalewatchers:

Today was a day full of wildlife activities. We started with a pre-breakfast mangrove skiff ride to see birds such as herons, egrets, osprey, night herons, shorebirds, oystercatchers, and the elusive mangrove warbler!

Hello whalewatchers: Today we went ashore at Isla Santa Catalina. There was a slight breeze so it was cooler today. That resulted in less reptiles with the exception of two rattlelss rattlesnakes. They were in the same area as last trip. As usual, the cactus are tremendous and all the cardons are within days of [...]

Dear whalewatchers: Today we arrived soon after sunrise for light on the colored sandstone cliffs of Isla San Jose. Then we were ashore for a desert walk to see plants and birds. Then a coolish snorkel in a gorgeous cove of underwater boulders. The water was super clear for good visibility of reef fishes. As [...]

Dear whale watchers: Today we saw a total of probably 30 humpback whales in calm seas and blue water. It was great for photographing all the behaviors of these whales. There were also lots of sea turtles and at least four tropicbirds. A highlight was spotting a whale shark who swam right next to the [...]

Make sure to click the MORE button on these posts to see photos…! We are watching and listening to humpbacks this morning. Naturalist Rob N. deploys the hydrophone.

Dear whalewatchers: Today we had to deal with very windy conditions which made wildlife spotting difficult. After a quiet morning, we totaled five blue whales, two Bryde’s whales, at least two large herds of common dolphin, a very cooperative red-billed tropicbird, and loads of shearwaters and other seabirds for the afternoon. We are headed for [...]

Whalewatching is still excellent as is the birding in the mangroves this noontime.

Just a quick note to say we have a beautiful morning in Sam Ignacio and the mother and calf gray whales are treating everyone to a magical “friendly” whale experience!

Dear whalewatchers: We had a glorious morning in this special place. The 110 cow-calf pairs that are still here kept us very busy! It seems like there were several pairs to watch around Searcher all day, and there were plenty of friendly whales to visit everyone in the pangas. It’s clear we’ve all been touched [...]

Hello whalewatchers, Today was an incredible day here in Lagina San Ignacio. The weather was great with sunny skies and light winds which made for a great day in the pangas. We were able to get four whalewatching trips in today–two in the morning and two in the afternoon. All four trips had close encounters [...]

Hello whalewatchers, It was another great day here in Baja. We had sunny skies and calm seas. We saw a fin whale before arriving at the island this morning along with black-footed and layson albatrosses. After getting ashore half the group stayed closer to the coast and the other half did the full tour around [...]

Hello whalewatchers: Happy easter to everyone! We had a great day today with really good weather, light winds and calm seas. We did a quick visit to Isla Todos Santos and saw all three pinnipeds hauled out and all the usual suspects on south island–harbor seals. Calif sea lions and elephant seals. We left and [...]

Hello whalewatchers,
Today was our last full day of the trip and we made the most of it!

Hello whalewatchers: We keep thinking things can’t get much better with the weather being as calm as it has for days now. And we’ve seen plenty of whales and more today. We started at Bahia Agua Verde which is always a hit. We saw two gray whales way up here–at least 100 miles north of [...]

Hello whalewatchers,
A midday report with everyone going ashore at Isla Santa Catalina and finding a record four rattleless rattle snakes in a tw0-hour period.

Hello whalewatchers: What an incredible day in the Sea of Cortez! It just doesn’t get any better weather wise with calm seas. The boat didn’t even move today except for forward motion. We all enjoyed a wonderful sunrise at Punta Colorado Isla San Jose, one of my favorite spots and an early walk to avoid [...]

Dear Whalewatchers: Today we have the weather that we dream about–sunny skies, calm seas and hot temps. We started seeing humpback whales after breakfast and close to the Gorda banks area. We bypassed a few singles and then a group of seven whales showed up. We followed them for close to an hour. We had [...]

Hello whalewatchers: We had a great day today offshore with lots of life, beginning with several miles of scattered long-beaked common dolphin, lots of shearwaters, frigates and an occasional masked boobie. After lunch we started to see blue whales and we spent some time following one very large blue whale. We saw a few other [...]