Captain's Blog

Hello whalewatchers:

Today we went ashore at Isla Santa Catalina. There was a slight breeze so it was cooler today. That resulted in less reptiles with the exception of two rattlelss rattlesnakes. They were in the same area as last trip. As usual, the cactus are tremendous and all the cardons are within days of full bloom.

Part of the group had a snorkel session and a few people went on a Krazy Koastal Kruise with Kapt Kenny to see dolphins and Sally Lightfoot crabs.

We had lunch at anchor and then ventured out to look for whales. It was windy so we worked south with the wind and swell. We saw a large herd of common dolphin and a humpback whale that breached a few times.

Looking forward to tomorrow at Isla San Jose and Isla San Francisco.

Capt Art

p.s. Marin “helping” Chef Charles clean the frosting bowl…

Dear whalewatchers:

Today we arrived soon after sunrise for light on the colored sandstone cliffs of Isla San Jose. Then we were ashore for a desert walk to see plants and birds. Then a coolish snorkel in a gorgeous cove of underwater boulders. The water was super clear for good visibility of reef fishes.

As soon as we set sail (and Charles tried to serve lunch), we found a fin whale mom and calf to watch. This was a very large fin whale cow, It is great when you can see the right side of the jaw and ho white it is. We had the cow and calf at the surface at the same time to see the jaw of both whales. Just a little to the west of the fin whales we came upon an area of manta rays. They were jumping and there was little packs of 4-8 manta rays together on the surface. The water was clean enough to get great looks at these really cool animals. They had a average wing span of about 6-8 feet.

Then next, we came upon a blue whale mom and calf! This pair was very cooperative and we all had beautiful looks at this magnificent animal and her baby.The calf was a bit curious and came to visit us more than once.

We went west into the San Jose channnel to look for something diffferent. We found a herd of 2000 long beaked common dolphin that was spectacular. We stayed for a while and everyone had great opportunities to view and photograph them.

Headed to Isla Catalina tonight for tomorrow.

More then,
Capt Art

Dear whale watchers:
Today we saw a total of probably 30 humpback whales in calm seas and blue water. It was great for photographing all the behaviors of these whales. There were also lots of sea turtles and at least four tropicbirds. A highlight was spotting a whale shark who swam right next to the boat. That’s a first for these trips. A beautiful animal..
This afternoon we had a snorkel and a birdwatch at Los Frailes. Two people saw a sea turtle in the snorkel zone. All of us are happy with this full day of wildlife in Baja!
Looking forward to tomorrow,
Capt Art

Make sure to click the MORE button on these posts to see photos…!
We are watching and listening to humpbacks this morning. Naturalist Rob N. deploys the hydrophone.

Dear whalewatchers:
Today we had to deal with very windy conditions which made wildlife spotting difficult. After a quiet morning, we totaled five blue whales, two Bryde’s whales, at least two large herds of common dolphin, a very cooperative red-billed tropicbird, and loads of shearwaters and other seabirds for the afternoon.
We are headed for the Cabo area and our weather forecast looks much improved.
Capt Art