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Tour #6 Laguna San Ignacio April 12

Hello whalewaters,
Another classic day in Laguna San Ignacio! We enjoyed great weather in the morning and all three pangas had close encounters with multiple cows and calves. We had a little breeze after lunch but that didn’t matter to the whales, good trips for all the pangas again. The last trip was to the beach for a walk and everyone that went seemed to enjoy it.
We are heading south this evening and I am feeling a bit sad leaving the lagoon for the last time this season. I have this feeling every year. Laguna San Ignacio is such a special place and everyone that visits gets the same impression. We are so fortunate to be able to bring people here. I can’t wait for next year when I get to come back to this special place.
More tomorrow from the Mag Bay area,
Capt Art

2011-04-13T07:07:47-07:00April 13th, 2011|Trip Reports|
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Tour #6 Good gray whale numbers April 11

Hello whalwatchers,
Today was another magical day in Laguna San Ignacio. We had good weather for most of the day that allowed us to get in some really good whalewatching. There are a lot of cows and calves for this time of the year with the census done two days ago and the results were 117 cow calf pairs and 7 singles, for a total of 241 whales in the lagoon. I certainly can’t remember ever seeing these numbers this late in the season.
Everyone had a close encounter on every trip today and the calves are the highlight . We also had at least two different cows and calves visit the Searcher for long periods of time and so the whale watching from the boat was excellent. We were able to get the scrub brush out and scratch the whales with it again this trip.
We did things a little differently today in the afternoon with the tide dictating our trip to the mangroves. We had a high tide this afternoon so the group went to the mangroves after a whalewatch trip after lunch. It sounded like a great trip with a long bird list.
Looking forward to tomorrow,
Capt Art

2020-07-15T16:35:22-07:00April 11th, 2011|Trip Reports|
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Tour #6 Islas San Benito April 10

Hello whalewatchers:
We had a great day at Islas San Benito. The weather was great with clear skies and a brisk wind, but warm out of the wind.  Albatross Alley kept producing after my first report. At one point we had 17 albatrosses in our wake–incredible!. Out total before arriving at the island was 40 birds–28 black-footed and 12 laysan albatross. What a start to our day!
At the island, we had a skiff ride to view Guadalupe fur seals and then we landed on the island. There were fewer fur seals but more elephant seals, with more females returning to molt. The island is very dry still this spring. At the top of the island there is a group of about 12 horned larks that hiker enjoyed.
Everyone had a good day and now we are traveling south to Laguna San Ignacio.
More tomorrow,
Capt Art

2011-04-10T17:19:15-07:00April 10th, 2011|Trip Reports|
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Tour #6 Albatross Alley April 10

Good morning all,
This morning we have arrived at “Albatross Alley” with multiple sightings of both laysan and black-footed albatrosses. We have seen at least 12 black-footed and eight laysan. We are currently about 15 miles northwest of Islas San Benito where there is a seamount called Ranger Bank. We have seen fulmars, pink-footed shearwaters and phalaropes as well.
Also based on yesterday’s sightings, it is apparent that the baleen whales are starting to arrive in the area close to San Diego. That bodes well for our shorter trips this spring. Check out the website for our Memorial Day Wildlife Weekend trip. Don’t miss a chance to see a blue whale in our back yard.
More later,
Capt Art

2011-04-10T10:48:32-07:00April 10th, 2011|Trip Reports|
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Tour #6 Life offshore Ensenada April 9

Hello whalewatchers,
Today was our first day of our last trip this season and what a day we had! It all started with a quick stop at Islas Todo Santos for a view of three different pinnipeds, pelagic comorant, oystercatchers, perregrin falcon, nesting brown pelicans, and the island was in full bloom with the yellow flowers (Encelia) covering half the island.
Travelling south we saw a group of short-beaked common dolphin. several alcids, migrating common loons, migrating brandt geese, sooty shearwaters, red phalaropes, and black-footed albatross. That was before lunch.

During lunch we spotted multiple spouts in the distance and when we arrived in the area, we were amazed at the life there. There were three different species of baleen whales including three blue whales , two of them were a cow and calf pair. The single whale fluked mulitple times and had a very distinct tail fluke–it was very pretty. The cow also was a fluker and a much darker animal, and the calf was a normal light grayish color.  There were also two fin whales and two humpback whales (that did some breaching, tail lobbing and flipper flapping while we were viewing the blue whales). Sadly we are on a schedule and had to break off and continue south.
What a great start to our trip!
More tomorow from Islas San Benitos,
Capt Art

2011-04-09T19:55:36-07:00April 9th, 2011|Trip Reports|
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What a terrible day…

…to welcome our Tour #6 participants to San Diego! It was anything but “sunny” as an unusually cold storm front moved through our region. (Colder here than in England, where many of them travelled from!)

But I believe they have all forgotten about the chilly temperatures and off and on rain showers by now because they are surrounded by two humpback whales, two fin whales, two blue whales, and a growing list of seabirds (including common loons, black-footed albatross, rhino auklets), all under a blue and sunny sky,  as they head south, deeper and deeper into Baja California and away from civilization.

Stay tuned for more details on this day!

Thank you to Lee Morgan for the use of his photo of a blue whale off the bow.

2011-04-09T13:51:57-07:00April 9th, 2011|Trip Reports|
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San Diegans!

Come learn more about the very endangered “gulf of california” porpoise, called the vaquita, on Sunday April 10 at 6 p.m. We’ll be showing the 40-minute film about conservation efforts and the outlook for this species–only 250 of them survive. Email me for all the details. Event is free, though a $5 donation to ProPeninsula is suggested.

2011-04-05T13:30:59-07:00April 5th, 2011|News|
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Tour #5 Last day in Baja April 4

Hello whalewatchers,
We enjoyed another beautiful day in the Sea of Cortez, with calm seas and no wind. This is weather we dream about. We made a quick visit to Nopolo for a pre-breakfast walk and the endemic Xantus hummingbird showed well. We headed south towards Los Islotes .
After a skiff ride to look at the sea lions and birds with the highlight being the courting blue-footed boobies, the snorkellers went in. The visibilty was the best we’ve seen in quite some time with clear water and lots of fish.
After leaving there we came across a big group of bottlenose dolphin. This group wanted to perform, with several animals leaping in the wake as  high as 20 feet in the air. It was impressive! We saw one more humpback whale and a great sunset to end a great trip.
See you all next trip,
Capt Art

2020-07-15T16:35:22-07:00April 5th, 2011|Trip Reports|
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