Captain's Blog

Hello whalewatchers,
We had another magical day in Laguna San Ignacio! There are still plenty of whales here. The latest census from yesterday totaled 83 cow calf pairs and 25 singles for a total of 191 total whales. Everyone had close encounters with cows and calves today. We were able to get four trips in today so everyone had ample time in the pangas.
Some great whalewatching from the Searcher as well with a cow and calf visiting us at lunchtime.
The weather was great with clear skies and light winds for most of the day.
Hoping for good weather tomorrow with more of the same activities.
Capt Art

Hello whalewatchers,
A wonderful day on Islas San Benito. Prior to arriving we had a great show in the wake with 11 black-footed albatross at once and several gulls. The island is still in bloom with flowers. The female elephant seals are returning to molt so there are more seals on the island. The Guadalupe fur seals have increased  in numbers as well. There are olenty of ospreys on the nest and the group saw one chick.
Everyone enjoyed the hike. The weather was great , nice and cool for a hike with overcast skies and a light breeze. After departing we saw two fin whales and a group of common dolphin. And to end the day, a great sunset.

Looking forward to arriving at Laguna San Ignacio tomorrow,
Capt Art

Hello whalewatchers,
Our first day of trip #4 and all before lunch, we had quite a bit of sea life. We saw all the usual suspects at Isla Todos Santos such as elephant seals, harbor seals, sea lions and a variety of seabirds. As we were ready to leave we saw a group of four gray whales headed northbound. We spent some time with them and gave everyone their first look at a big whale. Just a little south of there we came across a group of feeding long-beaked common dolphins, with some shearwaters and gulls associated. We also had a good look at  a large ocean sun fish.
We found more northbound gray whales and then four different humpbacks, one of which breached and tail lobbed close by. A little more south we saw 3 black-footed albatross and more northbound gray whales.
We have seen several rhino auklets which is significant since we have now seen several in three trips in a row. There were several alcids to see all morning long, mostly cassin’s auklets. We’re still on watch for more wildlife this afternoon!
More later,
Capt Art

Hello whalewatchers,
We’ve had another gorgeous day with sunny skies and calm seas. We started with an early walk at Bahia Agua Verde along with a skiff ride and snorkel session for those interested. We then travelled south in the San Jose channel looking for whales and dolphins. We found 6 more blue whales to look at briefly–that brings our total up to 26 blue whales so far. Hard to beat that with one more day to go.
We came across a large herd of long-beaked common dolphin an hour before sunset and we spent the rest of the day with them. The lighting was great with the sun low in the sky. We ventured over close to the peninsula in the Los Dolores area and dropped the anchor for dinner. Tonight is back deck buffet night starting with margaritas, Charles’s famous ribs, red beans and rice along with corn on the cob, cole slaw and brownies for desert. What a great day.
More tomorrow
Capt Art

p.s. Thanks to Simon Murgatroyd for the beautiful Baja sunset photo.

Hello whalewatchers,
Another great day with fabulous weather–sunny skies and calm conditions. We started early with a hike on Isla Santa Catalina . This island is definitely one of my favorite stops on our trip. The cactus are tremendous. A snorkel session after the hike was spoiled a little with jelly fish but the visibility was good and there were plenty of fish. Great conditions for a Krazy Koastal Kruise with Kapt Kenny and Capt Aaron.
We had great lunch of Charles’ “gourmet” cheeseburgers and pesto pasta salad in calm seas. We stayed in deep water this afternoon and hoped for a toothed whale. We had a pair of blue whales that we had a great look at and another fluker. We saw what we thought were pilot whales but it turned out to be a group of 200 or so sea lions! They were a long ways from shore about 12 miles to the nearest land. We assume they were out feeding.
We also saw couple of other distant blue whales and a great sunset to end the day.
More tomorrow,
Capt Art

Hello whalewatchers,
Our weather is what we dream about for all our trips–glassy calm and no swell! This morning e started with a skiff ride at Punta Colorado on Isla San Jose. Then we went ashore for a couple of hours and a snorkel session. Everyone enjoyed the morning and then we went offshore looking for whales.

We hit the jackpot on blue whales with at least eight different whales with a cow and calf pair. Five out of the eight whales were fluking which is rare. We hope to get one “fluker” per trip and today there was flukes everywhere!. We saw at least five dwarf sperm whales, maybe more.
For the birders we saw 28 Craveri’s murrelets, over 100 black storm-petrels and at least five long-tailed jaegers. A great afternoon for birds as well!
Headed to Isla Santa Catalina tonight.
More tomorrow,
Capt Art

p.s. Thank you to Ilka Serpell for the image of Searcher at Punta Colorada!