Captain's Blog

Hello whalewatchers:

We spent most of our day on dry land. We started at Punta Colorado on Isla San Jose and watched the sunrise over the sandstone cliffs. We went hiking and snorkeling there until lunch time. We then took off looking for marine wildlife around the northern end of Isla San Jose and the San Jose Channel. We saw very little, but got some good looks at the smooth-tailed mobula rays in the channel. We ended our day at Nopolo on the Baja peninsula looking for birds. Our birders were excited to find the endemic Xantus (Read all about the person Xantus here!) hummingbird here. We’ll be at Isla San Francisco tomorrow morning.

Captain Mike and Team Searcher

Xantus hummingbird

Walk on Isla San Jose

Mobula ray

Hello whalewatchers:

Wow, what a day here in the Sea of Cortez! We had beautiful weather all day today. We started our morning at Bahia Agua Verde this morning for a snorkel and a bird walk. The day didn’t really heat up until we left. Once we got above Isla Monserat we got into a huge area of feeding blue whales and fin whales. They put on quite a show for us. There must have been 30 of them within a few miles. They were up on the surface all around the boat, lunge feeding and skimming the surface as close as 50 feet from the boat.

Captain Mike and Team Searcher

Side-swimming blue whale feeding at the surface.

 

Hello whalewatchers:

We had some great whalewatching today! We travelled out towards Islas Las Animas first thing this morning. We were able to get close and observe the California sea lions and the Guadalupe fur seals colonizing the small islet. We then headed towards the peninsula and located a large area of sperm whales. I estimate there were at least 20 in the area, multiple mother/calf pairs, groups of three or four, and several who fluked upon diving. We had what we believed was a breacher as well, but never got close enough to properly identify it.

(Thank you to Rob N for use of his photo of sperm whales.)

We ended our day at Puerto Gato with some some snorkeling and a bird walk up the wash. We added four new species to the bird list, including an endemic gray thrasher. Beautiful weather all day today.

Captain Mike and Team Searcher

Guadalupe fur seals

Sperm whale fluke

California sea lions

Hello whalewatchers:

We started our day this morning on the Pacific ocean side of the cape looking at humpback whales. We found a mother/calf right at breakfast that was flipper flopping and breaching. They put on a pretty good show, including a scenic backdrop from the peninsula.

From there on we had steady action all the way around the cape and onto the inner Gorda Bank. The wind started to come up in the afternoon. We made it around to Punta Arena where we got in the water and got our first snorkel session in.

Captain Mike and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

This morning we woke up just North of Cabo San Lazaro and found a large area of humpback whales. We watched a group of four whales that were staying close to the boat for about a hour.

The middle of the day was slow for wildlife watching, but we moved into a new area mid-afternoon that was full of humpbacks and a few blue whales! We saw numerous humpbacks and 3 blue whales. There was a pair of blues and one single blue. We got some good looks at the single whale, as it showed its flukes often. It also stayed close to the boat for about a hour before we had to point south.

Also, we picked up a hitchhiker on the way. This brown booby joined the party and rode the bow for about a hour. 

Just before sunset, we found an enormous pod of common dolphins and rode them out into the sunset.  It was a great way to finish off a great day. Oh and we had beautiful calm seas all day!

Captain Mike and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

We arrived to the entrance to San Ignacio Lagoon this morning at day break. We were greeted by gray whales and bottle =nose dolphin as soon as we got across the sandbar at the entrance. The wind stayed mellow enough throughout the morning and early afternoon. We did get some quality runs in the pangas today with multiple friendly encounters with gray whales.

However, strong winds came up quickly in the afternoon and closed the lagoon for activities around 2pm today. With a forecast of continued high winds for tomorrow, we’ve opted to leave the lagoon a day early and are headed south for better weather and an area of humpbacks and dolphins. We’ll report back tomorrow.

Captain Mike and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers:

We arrived at San Benito island just after sunrise this morning. Last night we had a windy ride down  so everyone was happy to get off the boat for a few hours and walk around West Island. There is a good number of elephant seals around the island, incuding one right at our landing beach! Along with the elephant seals, passengers saw Guadalupe fur seals and California sea lions. It was a good day for pinnipeds!

After we left the Island the wind picked up again, which made the viewing conditions difficult. However like yesterday it made for some good seabirding. We saw a couple of southbound gray whales late in the day. We will be in San Ignacio Lagoon tomorrow morning.

Captain Mike and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers:

Last night we departed on Tour #2. We arrived in Ensenada early this morning to pick up our guide Luis and complete our tasks there. After clearing with the Mexican officials, we headed across the bay to Isla Todos Santos which was very green from the recent rains. We spent about a hour watching the sea lions and harbor seals hauled out on the beach and playing in the surge.

Shortly after leaving Bahia Todos Santos, we were greeted by a large number of northbound gray whales and long-beaked common dolphins. We had windy conditions all day but we were able to get a decent look at a couple groups of grays. However the wind did create great conditions for good seabirding. We were able to check off two species of albatross: Layson’s (pictured) and black-footed. we also saw a humpback whale late in the day. We will be at Islas San Benito at daybreak tomorrow.

Captain Mike and Team Searcher