FacebookTwitterYouTubeInstagram

isla santa catalina

Tour #5 Isla Santa Catalina

Hello whalewatchers: We’ve had another beautiful day in the Sea of Cortez. We started with a nice walk on Isla Santat Catalina and shortly after that, a very nice snorkel in perfect conditions. Not very long after we left the island there were a lot of dwarf sperm whales on the surface and we got to have several really good looks at those. After that we saw a small group of pilot whales and then it was dolphins pretty much all afternoon. To finish the day there was a couple square mile area of jumping smooth-tailed mobulas leaping all over the place. So we’re headed to Agua Verde for tomorrow. Today’s photo is the elusive endemic rattleless rattlesnake from Isla Santa Catalina.

tour 5 snake

Capt Aaron and the Searcher crew

2020-07-15T16:34:53-07:00April 2nd, 2015|Trip Reports|
Read More

Tour #6 Isla Santa Catalina April 17

Hello whalwatchers,
Today we went ashore at Isla Santa Catalina. It was beautiful day with sunny skies and a light breeze. The cardon cactus were blooming and the birding was good. After it got a little warmer, there were several lizards out in the sun–desert Iguanas and emerald-tailed lizards. After the hike there were a few people interested in a snorkel. The visibility was good and there were plenty of fish.
Then we went offshore looking for whales and dolphins. We saw four fin whales and the highlight was a cow and calf that hung out with us for a while. The water was clean so we could see the entire calf next to the boat. The cow was one of those really big fin whales, at least 75 feet long. We also saw a group of 300 to 400 long-beaked dolphin and one more tropicbird. That brings the total to 10 tropic birds this trip so far.
Headed to Bahia Agua Verde for the night.
More tomorrow,
Capt Art

2020-07-15T16:35:22-07:00April 18th, 2011|Trip Reports|
Read More

Tour #5 Santa Catalina and a whaley day April 2

Hello whalewatchers,
Today was a glorious day at Isla Santa Catalina. We went ashore a little earlier because of the heat. The temperatures are in the mid 80’s mid-day, so earlier was better. The island is changing a little from previous trips. With the warmer temps the lizards are more active and there were lots around. Also the cardon cactus are in the process of blooming with lots of buds and a few flowers.
The snorkelling was excellent with great visibility and 70 degree water. Kapt Kenny’s Krazy Koastal Kruise had a good trip with a few bottlenose dolphin sighted.
We left at noon to look for whales and what an afternoon we had! We saw at least 15 fin whales, three different groups of common dolphin with at least 1000 animals in each group, a small group of bottlenose dolphin, and one blue whale.
There was also lots of birdlife with pelicans, boobies, murrelets, grebes and gulls.
The seas were calm and so it made for a wonderful day out looking for whales.
More tomorrow from Bahia Agua Verde,
Capt Art

2011-04-03T08:48:56-07:00April 3rd, 2011|Trip Reports|
Read More

Tour #4 Pilot whales and more March 17

Hello whalewatchers,
Today we spent the morning at Isla Santa Catalina and everyone had a great morning with a early hike among the amazing cactus, a snorkel before lunch and a few people had a “Crazy Coastal Cruise with Capt Cole.” They had bow-riding bottlenose dolphins in the skiff and that was pretty “Crazy.”
We left and went offshore to see if we could find some toothed whales. We were lucky and found a group of 100 pilot whales with a few bottlenose dolphin mixed in. We spent some time in deep-water looking for the other toothed whale (if you’ve been with us, you know who that is…) with no luck yet.
We did see 7 to 10 fin whales east of Isla Carmen and another herd of common dolphin at sunset. The area had a lot of life with whales dolphin, birds, fish and more. It was a very good ending to a perfect day.
More tomorrow,
Capt Art

2011-03-18T07:18:15-07:00March 18th, 2011|Trip Reports|
Read More

Tour #3 Isla Santa Catalina and blue whales

(Many thanks to Hilary Thompson for her beautiful photo of Isla Santa Catalina landscape!)

Hello whalewatchers,
This morning we were at Isla Santa Catalina for a hike and a snorkel. The wind was back blowing strong, but fortunately we were anchored behind this wonderful island. We stayed here until after lunch and then headed out and see if we can locate a whale.
We went towards the peninsula and we saw two blue whales right away. The wind  diminished and we were able to work and follow the whales. We spent a little time with these blue whales and continued south looking for something else. We found more blue whales and had great looks with good lighting.

With an hour left of daylight a male sperm whale breached in the distance so we went over that direction and were able to get a look at the whale through binoculars. It surfaced three times, 20 minutes apart, and on the last surfacing we were able to get close enough to see the whale without binoculars. Oddly enough the whale didn’t fluke, it just dissappeared. Most of the time sperm whales fluke to dive deep, so maybe it didn’t have to dive very deep. Everyone was happy to see a sperm whale.
We’re having margaritas and BBQ buffet on the back deck and are hoping for a chance to see bioluminesence tonight.
Capt Art

2011-03-04T11:58:53-08:00March 4th, 2011|Trip Reports|
Read More

Tour #2 Isla Santa Catalina and blue whales

Hello whalewatchers,
Well, we are certainly living right! We expected to have good weather for the morning and then possibly have some more wind in the afternoon. Not only did we get great weather this morning, but this afternoon it is even better, with the sea glassing off completely and the swell diminishing to where the boat is barely moving. We are liking it!
We had a great walk this morning at Bahia Tambobiche with good birding. We left there to look for whales and we saw a pair of blue whales not too far from there. We had excellent looks at these whales with perfect lighting and we were able to keep track of them so everyone had a good look. We stayed for over two hours and then we left to look for something different.

We came across a big herd of common dolphin that gave us a great show. There were at least 1000 dolphin in the herd. We left them in search of something different and we found an area of birds feedin,g with balls of krill on the surface and then two Bryde’s whales showed up. We had a great show with Brydes whales feeding on the balls of krill and small bait fish. It was spectacular!
Headed to Isla Santa Catalina tonight for another calm spot and a good night’s rest.

Looking forward to tomorrow,
Capt Art

p.s. Thanks to Chef Charles for the dolphin photo!

2011-03-02T19:23:44-08:00March 2nd, 2011|Trip Reports|
Read More

Tour #2 Isla Santa Catalina and whales, whales, and more whales!

Hello whalewatchers,
What a day we had today! It started out with a great sunrise again, the lighting on the peninsula was tremendous. The group went ashore early and had great hike. The crew went over on a mission to find a rattleless rattlesnake and found two. (Attached photo is taken by Hilary Thompson) They marked the spot for the rest of the group and everyone got a good look at one. Then there was a snorkel for those interested, and Kaptain Kenny’s Koastal Kruise for those who preferred that. Pretty krazy! Then there were Chuckwagon Cheeseburgers in Paradise for lunch!
We went offshore and despite a little wind and swell, we had a great show with a Bryde’s whale cow and calf, and once again we had a playful calf that breached and flopped around. We were able to keep track of them since they were right on the surface the whole time. After that we had a group of common dolphin and then a big group of bottlenose dolphin that performed for us.

We saw some whales in the distance and on our way there, we spotted some small whales that we thought might be more bottlenose dolphin but they turned out to be false killer whales. These are fairly unusual for us to find so we are thrilled! There were about 40 animals along with a fin whale too. We stayed with them for about an hour and decided to put the hydrophone in the water. We were able to pick their squeals so that was pretty cool too.

False killer whales

The whole afternoon the crew and the naturalists were seeing whales in a couple different directions and so we went over to the peninsula and found two big blue whales feeding and one was a fluker.
Holy smokes! What an afternoon! Four blues, four fins, two Bryde’s, 40 false killer whales, 100 bottlenose dolphins,  50 common dolphin, and the possibility of 1 humpback.
Incredible and all in one day in the Sea of Cortez.

We are staying around this area tomorrow, and I can’t wait for the morning,
Capt Art

2020-07-15T16:35:25-07:00February 15th, 2011|Trip Reports|
Read More

Capt. Art's Blog Toolbar

Captain's Blog

Categories

Archives

x
Go to Top