As of 13 February, there are 53 mother/calf pairs, and 90 singles for a total of 196 whales!
One of those mother/calf pairs was photographed by David Thompson. Many thanks for the use of his beautiful portrait here.
Hello whalewatchers,
Today we spent the morning watching humpback whales. We had whales in view for the entire morning, with around a total of 30 humpbacks and seven gray whales, which was interesting to see this far south again. We had excellent looks at humpbacks, close-up looks at flukes, but not too much in the breaching behavior but some great whalewatching.
The wind came up around 11:30 so we headed for Bahia Los Frailes and everyone had a nice walk and some great bird watching. Those who chose to snorkel had great visibility and saw lots of fish. The water temp is cool at 67 degrees but for those who had a wetsuit, it wasn’t a problem.
We are headed north and the weather is good so far and the forecast looks favorable for the next few days so we are looking forward to getting up in the Sea of Cortez.
More tomorrow,
Capt Art
Searcher passenger, Myer Bornstein, snapped this amazing shot of a rarely seen behavior–a Bryde’s whale breach. And it was a calf, no less. Thanks Myer!
© Myer Bornstein
Hello whalewatchers,
Well this afternoon was very productive with plenty of whale sightings. We got great looks at a Bryde’s whalecow and calf along with 4 or 5 other Bryde’s whales. We also spotted a few humpbacks, and at the end of the day we had a good look at a fin whale cow and calf. The cow was a really big fin whale and the calf was pretty young.
All in all we had a great day offshore Bahia Magdalena, with the weather and the whale sightings..
The sunset was great again and we are looking forward to tomorrow.
Capt Art
Hello whalewatchers,
Here’s our mid-day report from offshore Bahia Magdalena. We had calm seas, sunny skies, and a beautiful day. We came across a few dolphin this morning and the first bird we saw was a red-billed tropicbird. We also found a few humpback whales that were traveling so we added another species of whale to our list.
A little further south we came across a megaherd of common dolphin. There had to be 2000 animals spread over a square mile area. It was really exciting to see so many dolphins! We followed one more humpback whale for awhile with great looks, but no acrobatics or fluking so we are taking a lunch break before continuing on.
More later,
Capt Art
p.s. Sally Walton took this photo of a big herd of common dolphins last year!
Search for us at: Searcher Natural History Tours!
Hello whalewatchers,
We’ve had another glorious day in Baja with sunny skies and calm seas, and lots of whales in the lagoon. Everyone had a great day. This afternoon there was a option to go to the mangroves and the beach. They saw great birds and a coyote and had a wonderful walk on the beach.
The other panga went back out to visit the whales and they had a phenomenal trip with close encounters with a cow and calf for the majority of the trip. They all came back to the boat soaking wet from their trip. A good time was had by all.
We finished the day with the green flash at sunset. The ocean is calm and the forecast looks great for tomorrow.
More then,
Capt Art
Hello all,
Today’s word, courtesy of our UK friends, is LOLLING–as in, the whales are lolling around today. We are enjoying wonderful weather with calm winds. And top that off with great whalewatching and plenty of whales in the observation zone. We had two trips this morning, and this afternoon we have an option for a beach walk and a mangrove trip. And for those who can’t get enough of the whales, and you know who THEY are, another trip to visit the whales.
More later with the day’s wrap-up,
Capt Art
p.s. Those on the mangrove trip spotted a coyote. Can you spot it in Hilary Thompson’s photo?
Hello all,
This afternoon’s trip was a little slower than this morning’s but there was really good whalewatching with plenty of gray whales in the lagoon. We had a mother/calf pair near the boat today too. The weather changed a little and we had a light breeze that made it a little chilly in the pangas. But everyone had a great time. Dinner was excellent and we are planning to shut the generator off for a little while for some quiet time and do some stargazing. Hope we hear some whales breathing…
Looking forward to tomorrow with the weather forecast favorable. We plan on gettting an early start in the morning.
More tomorrow,
Capt Art
Hello Whalewatchers,
Here’s a mid-day report from Laguna San Ignacio. For those of you in the UK that might be following along, the word of the day is GOBSMACKED!The entire group is GOBSMACKED about their visit with the gray whales this morning. Apparently that means everyone is happy and they are not quite sure how we are going to top this morning’s trip. The weather is calm and sunny and as far as the lagoon is concerned, it can’t get much better. We are seeing lots of whales and dolphins so far here. I will leave it at that and hope for a GOBSMACKED afternoon.
Capt Art
