Captain's Blog

Laguna San Ignacio, day 2

Hello whalewatchers,
Today was a perfect day in Laguna San Ignacio! Light winds all day. We started the day with a trip to the mangroves and everyone really enjoyed it. They saw all the usual birds with a coyote as the highlight.
The whalewatching was great with good conditions and everyone had a close encounter. The highlight of our stay was a whale hanging on our anchor line for a few hours and we recognize this whale from the past! It was the same whale that Kuyima named their company after 18 years ago. It has a white head and a bump on its lower left jaw that is easy to see. It displayed the same behavior as 18 years ago, rubbing on our anchor line for a long time. The whale did that in the past for several days and with other boats in the lagoon. I thought it was pretty special.
More tomorrow form outside Mag Bay,
Capt Art

2020-07-15T16:35:29-07:00March 13th, 2010|Trip Reports|

Laguna San Ignacio, day 1

Hello whalewatchers,
Today was our first day in Laguna San Ignacio. It is always great to come back to this special place. Crossing the bar was uneventful since we had a high tide. There were plenty of gray whales out by the entrance and, as usual, plenty of whales were present around Rocky Point, our anchorage area.
The weather was glorious with clear skies and no wind for about four hours in the middle of the day–great weather for whalewatching.
Everyone enjoyed some good whalewatching from the pangas, and a few people had a close encounter with a cow and calf.
Heading to the mangroves in the morning.
Looking forward to tomorrow,
Capt Art

2010-09-10T20:50:57-07:00March 12th, 2010|Trip Reports|

Islas San Benito

Hello whalewatchers,
Today we spent the day at Islas San Benito in calm waters behind the island. There were plenty of Guadalupe fur seals on the rocks on the way into the beach and everyone had a great hike.
Part of the group stayed close to the elephant seals and the other part of the group went up to the lighthouse and around the island.
There are several “weaner” elephant seals on the beach, alone after being weaned from their mothers.
Also, the plants have had some rain recently and there were more plants in bloom this trip.
Looking forward to tomorrow in Laguna San Ignacio,
Capt Art

2010-09-03T17:32:59-07:00March 11th, 2010|Trip Reports|

Ensenada and Islas Todos Santos

Hello whalewatchers,
Our first day was a challenge since we had high winds and moderate seas that prevented us from stopping and looking at the northbound gray whales and common dolphin we saw.
Our visit to Isla Todo Santos allowed us to see all the usual suspects–sea lions, harbor seals, and elephant seals. Our highlight today was the albatross. With the wind, they fly so effortlessly. We saw black-footed and laysan albatrosses, and we had a total of 20 birds–15 blackfooted and 5 layson. Also we saw Cassin’s auklets and Xantus’ murrelets.
Lunch included a great carrot-ginger soup.
We are hoping for diminished swell and wind tomorrow.
We will be anchored at Isla San Benitos in the morning for a welcomed stop.
Capt Art

2020-07-15T16:35:29-07:00March 10th, 2010|Trip Reports|

San Diego, heading south

Hello whalewatchers and blog readers:
Today our passengers arrived from all corners of the world (Ohio, England, the high desert of California, Maryland, Vermont, central and northern California, and Australia), braved a chilly Southern California rain storm and boarded Searcher to sail south to Baja!
We readied the boat with food and fuel, and the cleaning crew did their part at the dock. In addition, Capt Art and I loaded 57 boxes of school supplies into Searcher’s fish holds to transport down to Laguna San Ignacio’s primary and secondary schools. These supplies are provided very generously by Baja School Friends. We provide the transport, along with Baja Expeditions’ staff in San Diego and San Ignacio. We were also able to purchase some supplies for fishermen in the more remote areas of Baja.
More about the wildlife they encounter starting tomorrow.
celia

2020-07-15T16:35:29-07:00March 9th, 2010|Trip Reports|

Nopolo and Islas Los Islotes

Hello whalewatcher,
Our final day started at Nopolo Village for a pre-breakfast walk to look at birds and and see the great canyon there. We left there after filling the local’s fresh-water containers.
We travelled down the San Jose channel looking for whales. There were a few dolophins but no large whales there. We continued on and half way between isla San Fransisco and Los Islotes we came actoss something I have only seen one other time in over 20 years. It was a bachelor group of sperm whales laying on the surace. There were 12 individuals, all males, and they stayed on the suface for at least an hour.
The weather was calm so it made for pefect conditions to stay with these whales. We actually ran out of time and had to leave so we could enjoy Los Islotes.
The snorkelling there was great everyone had a good time. Good visi bility and lots of fish. The non-snorkellers had a nice skiff ride to see the sea lions and nesting birds.
What a great trip, with good weather, and lots and lots of whales and other things to see.
Looking forward to next trip,
Capt Art

2010-09-03T17:29:19-07:00March 4th, 2010|Trip Reports|

Bahia Agua Verde
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Bahia Agua Verde

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Bahia Agua Verde

Dwarf sperm whales at sunset

Hello whalewatchers,
Today we are at Bahia Agua Verde, a beautiful spot on the peninsula. We walked on the beach, had a skiff ride along the shore and saw lots of birds, and finally a snorkel in warm, clear water. We stayed until lunch time and everyone enjoyed our visit.
We headed south looking for whales and we added another species to our list. We saw 6 dwarf sperm whales in a 2-hour period and I think everyone got a good look at one of these whales. That brings our total for cetaceans to 13 different species. There is a chance to see 15 different species on our tour, so to accomplish that in the time we have is really special.
Tonight was margarita night and everyone enjoyed a little tequila and buffet dinner on the back deck.
We had a great day and the weather was phenomenal–flat and calm all day.
Looking forward to tomorrow,
Capt Art

2020-07-15T16:35:29-07:00March 3rd, 2010|Trip Reports|

Isla Santa Catalina

Hello whalewatchers,
Today was an incredible day with clear skies, and nice and warm. The group went ashore at Isla Catalina for a couple of hours ands came back very happy with the hike and commented on how beautiful the island was. Part of the group went snorkelling and the visibility was great and the water was warm again.
We left after lunch and headed towards the peninsula looking for whales and dolphins. We came across yet another species of whale that brings the total to 12 different species so far. There were 2 different groups of pilot whales 30 – 40 animals each. We had great looks for a while and then continued on hoping for a large baleen whale.
Shortly after the pilot whales we came across a mega-herd of common dolphin. Just guessing but there had to be 2 thousand dolphin stretched out for over a 2-mile area. It is always great to see that many dolphin.
It didn’t take very long after the dolphin and we spotted a very tall spout and it was a blue whale. We saw 3 whales in the area-a cow and calf and a single adult that was fluking. We had great looks at a large blue whale.
Another great day in the Sea of Cortez.
More tomorrow,
Capt Art

2010-09-02T19:10:00-07:00March 2nd, 2010|Trip Reports|

Isla San Jose

Hello whalewatchers,
We had another great day starting at beautiful Punta Colorado, Isla San Jose at sunrise with sunny skies and light winds. Everyone enjoyed the walk with lots to see and lots of plants in bloom. We left at lunch time and started looking for whales and dolphin.
Before locating any whales we saw Craveri’s murrelets, red-billed tropicbird, and longtailed jeager. Those are life birds for most people so it was great to see these birds in just a two-hour span.
We then saw some spouts in the distance. We went that way and saw several whales on the surface. We concluded they were sperm whales! The closer we got the more whales we saw. Tt turned out there were at times 20 sperm whales on the surface at once over a 3 or 4 mile area. Who knows how many were there? We stayed with the sperm whales for two hours and the sun went down. The last good look we had was a large male along side of a female. It was great to see the size difference between a male and female.
Looking forward to tomorrow at Isla Catalina.
Capt Art

2010-09-02T19:09:20-07:00March 1st, 2010|Trip Reports|

Offshore Cabo San Lucas and Los Frailes

Hello all,
We had an incredible day of humpback whalewatching! It started with a group of 12 whales, and five out of the group were breaching. We had whales jumping in all directions. What a great way to start the day1
After that we headed to the Gorda Banks and there were at least 20 humpbacks milling around there. It was hard to decide which direction to go, so we just sat in one place for a while and enjoyed whales in all directions. There were several whales breaching in the distance and all the other behaviors as well. We ended our whalewatching with great looks at a cow/calf pair with an escort–the calf appeared very young.
We went to Los Frailes, a shore location on the peninsula, and several people took the opportunity to snorkel for the first time this trip. The water was 73 degrees and clear. The people on the walk had great looks at Xantus hummingbird and gray thrasher–two endemics for Baja.
Today’s weather was awesome with sunny skies and light winds again.
We are headed north in good weather to Isla San Jose.
More tomorrow,
Capt Art

2010-09-02T19:08:15-07:00February 28th, 2010|Trip Reports|

Bahia Agua Verde

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