Captain's Blog

We also encountered a tremendous amount of seabirds: shearwaters, gulls, terns, and albatrosses.
We are headed to the Coronado Islands to finish the trip with a look at some pinnipeds and nesting brown boobies.
I am truly amazed at the amount of marine life we have observed in the past 2.5 days. We found 11 total species of cetaceans: six species of dolphin and five species of baleen whales.
The weather has been great which helped out a lot.
Looking forward to offering this trip again next spring. Stay tuned for our 2011 schedule,
Capt Art

Hello whalewatchers,
We had another spectacular day offshore starting with the weather. We had almost no wind all day and hardly any swell either. That helped a lot. We were able to see a minke whale up close this morning which probably would not have happened without the weather we had. Also we got up close to Xantus murrelets and were able to follow them easily and watch them swimming underwater with their wings.
Also we found hundreds of sooty shearwaters with some pink-footed shearwaters mixed in. A laysan albatross showed up before breakfast ended.
We found short-beaked common dolphin, pacific white-sided dolphin and, at the end of the day, northern right whale dolphins mixed with pacific white-sided dolphins.
Added in were hundreds of storm petrels, both black and leachs–a constant stream of them all day.
After lunch we located five fin whales and we were able to stay with them for two hours to get really good looks at them. At the same time there were black-footed and Laysan albatrosses.
All total, we added four new species of cetaceans for a total of nine species for the two days of the trip–that is six species of dolphins and three species of baleen whales.
Looking forward to tomorrow with reports of blue whales on our bow. We will be in that area at daylight and hope to finish the trip off by sighting the largest whale.
Capt Art

Dear whalewatchers:
We had a day that might qualify for one of Searcher’s greatest days on the Sea of Cortez!
This morning we awoke at Isla Monserrate to a calm placid ocean. We started watching for whales and it didn’t take long for the boys on the roof to find us several whales right away. First we spent some time with a fin whale cow and calf pair and there were other fin whales in the area.
Soon after we spent some time with a minke whale and as it turns out, it was the same minke whale as last trip. This minke is crazy curious about Searcher and it spent at least 1.5 hours around the boat, making passes under the bow, along the side and coming up right beneath us. The clear water afforded everyone unparalled views of this small cetacean, one we don’t often see on these trips. All of the passengers and crew were running from side to side for a good photo. She (yes, we were able to determine its gender as she twirled on her belly next to the boat) appeared to make eye contact with all of us and make relaxed surfacings next to the boat.
Next the fin whale cow and calf made a curious encounter with Searcher. First the calf spent time surfacing very close to us, then the mother and baby made a few passes together. Again with the clear water, we could see every field mark and get a great perspective on sizes of these animals since they were so close.
Having these giant cetaceans come so close to us was unforgettable for all aboard.
Then we encountered several herds of active common dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, and several kinds of seabirds such as Cravieri’s murrelets, least and black storm petrels, terns and gulls, and loads of manta rays jumping and flipping.
After lunchtime we had either a snorkel or a Krazy Koastal Kruise at Las Galeras to see sea lions, pelicans, frigates, boobies, and lots of other birds.
For our late afternoon, we found a Bryde’s whale to add to our baleen species list as well. Then at sunset, we found a herd of pilot whales that we watched until it got dark.
Ending a very special day in Baja,
Capt Art

Dear whalewatchers:
We woke in a calm anchorage at Isla Santa Catalina and had an early birding walk through an arroyo before breakfast.
The cardon cactus and barrel cactus areas were alive with birds like northern cardinals, verdin, ash-throated flycatchers, white-winged doves, kestrel, ravens, turkey vultures, and more. We also spotted one small rattleless rattlesnake and several emerald-tailed lizards. After breakfast, people went back to walk a bit further up this scenic canyon.
Then it was time for a snorkel in the coves around Elephant Rock and from the beach at the arroyo.
After lunch we headed out into a windy channel to get better weather closer to the peninsula. We ended up in “fin whale alley.” All total, we found eight fin whales and a couple of blue whales. We had excellent views of the fin whale field marks such as a white chevron on the back and white lower right jaw. At sunset we were seeing whale blows in the distance in every direction. We are heading for an anchorage at Isla Monserrate tonight.
Hoping for continued great whalewatching in this part of the Sea of Cortez tomorrow,
Capt Art