Happy Mystery Monday!
Can you guess this animal? We decided to make it a bit harder this week. This photo was taken on one of our trips in Baja. We’ll reveal the answer on Friday, so stay tuned for the answer and more from the field!
📷by Paul Jones
Mystery Monday revealed! The answer is: California Sea Lion
📸 by Team Searcher
This is the iconic California sea lion, once used as a circus performer (sadly), but now seen in the wild across the coastal waters of the Pacific from Alaska to the Gulf of California, Baja. Seen at sea as far out as 100 miles or more, they are more more often seen nearshore at their haul out sites and rookeries. On Searcher trips, we see these amazing animals at several places, but most notably at Los Islotes where we can snorkel with them. There are bulls, nursing females with their pups born the previous year, and plenty of frisky juveniles. In and out of the water, they’re fun to watch, but I like to see them “porpoising” when they are traveling fast and leaping several body lengths at a time. They hit this “crossover speed” to avoid high wave drag in the water and go airborne to both breathe and cover some ground. They are deep divers, playful, tough, smart, and resilient. What’s not to like? –Paul Jones.
Happy Mystery Monday!
Can you guess this animal? We decided to make it a bit harder this week. This photo was taken on one of our trips in Baja. We’ll reveal the answer on Friday, so stay tuned for the answer and more from the field!
📷by Team Searcher
Mystery Monday revealed! The answer is:
Meet the largest fish on the planet, none other than the whale shark, Rhynchodon typus. While this behemoth is about 30 feet long at sexual maturity, a very large individual can get upwards of 60 feet. And they are thought to be long lived as well, reaching 80 years of age or more. In the Bay of La Paz where they are seen on Searcher trips when the weather cooperates (and most of the time it does), there are aggregations of juveniles. Interestingly, most of these sharks are males. The shallow waters are a great place to see them up close, though we have spotted them in deeper oceanic waters also. The juveniles are feeding on clouds of plankton known as copepods, which the remoras that hitch a ride on the whale sharks also feed on. Researchers have also found that some juvenile whale sharks migrate in the Gulf of California between Bahia de La Paz and Bahia de los Ángeles after spending a month or more in the shallow bays.”~Paul Jones
Happy Mystery Monday!
Can you guess this animal? We decided to make it a bit harder this week. This photo was taken on one of our trips in Baja. We’ll reveal the answer on Friday, so stay tuned for the answer and more from the field!
📷by Team Searcher
Mystery Monday revealed! The answer is: Red-billed Tropicbird
📸 by Tanja Credner
The mystery bird is a red-billed tropicbird. I love tropicbirds and few things are more exciting on a Searcher trip than Captain Art calling out “red-billed tropicbird alert” on the PA system.
Sea Harmony @ Thad Danielson
My first sighting was in 1974 when sailing across the Atlantic aboard a 33′ yawl Sea Harmony. Ever since, they’ve been near and dear to my naturalist heart. This neotropical species and member of the larger order of birds Pelecaniformes is found in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans and breeds on islands in the Gulf of CA. You can see them on Searcher trips often enough, but never in great numbers as they forage alone or in pairs, feeding on flying fish and squid. Their tail streamers, sometimes 2 x body length, are glorious. A mated pair will fly high above a nesting site performing ritual acrobatic maneuvers and calling in their shrill voices, which, long ago, reminded sailors of a bosun’s whistle – thus their nickname “bosun bird.” Phaethon, the name of the three species of tropicbirds, comes from mythical Greek son of Oceanid Clymene and Helios, the sun god. This species’ name, aethereus, means ethereal or aloft. Look for these birds high in the sky on your next Searcher trip! –Paul Jones
Happy Mystery Monday!
Can you guess this animal? We decided to make it a bit harder this week. This photo was taken on one of our trips in Baja. We’ll reveal the answer on Friday, so stay tuned for the answer and more from the field!
📷by Team Searcher
Mystery Monday revealed! The answer is: Orca
📸 by Team Searcher
Video by Paul Jones
That mystery whale ID was a tough one, for sure. Bottlenose, Risso’s or Pacific white-sided dolphins were good guesses, but that’s the dorsal fin of an orca or killer whale – likely a female or young animal. On Searcher trips, we can see the classic transient form which are known to migrate from Southern California. Last year, we got good looks at what is believed to be animals from the Eastern tropical Pacific. That said, orca classification is up for grabs right now as there are at least 10 ecotypes proposed, with little settled about that in the scientific literature. These animals are matriarchal in their social structure and very long-lived. While we don’t see them on every Searcher trip, we did see a small pod on the first 2020 trip, thanks to the sharp-eyed Marc Webber, who is a very seasoned Searcher naturalist and renowned pinniped expert. –Paul Jones
Happy Mystery Monday!
Can you guess this animal? This photo was taken on one of our trips in Baja. We’ll reveal the answer on Friday, so stay tuned for the answer and more from the field!
Mystery Monday is revealed! The answer is: Mobula
🎥 by Paul Jones
