Tour #2: Ensenada and Islas Todos Santos
Hello whalewatchers,
We have departed on our second trip and had our first opportunity to view some wildlife today. What an incredible day it was! We saw a few dolphin outside of Ensenada and then we saw all three pinnipeds at Islas Todos Santos along with all the usual birds to go with them.
Before lunch we had seen gray whales, fin whales and humpback whales. The grays were northbound, The fins were just milling around, and the humpbacks seemed to be staying in the same area. One of our naturalists, Lee Morgan, recognized the humpbacks. They are a pair that he has seen before and photographed in Canada late last year. He also told us the same two whales have been seen in Cabo San Lucas. They are named whales as well: Spreckles and Sarge. Pretty remarkable! All this happened before lunch.
After lunch the species list grew with both short- and long- beaked common dolphin, Pacific white-sided dolphins and some more fin whales to make the total of 10 fin whales for the day.
The birdwatchers had a great day as well with plenty of shearwaters, alcids and a Laysan albatross (shown in the photo here).
We have seen four different dolphins, three different baleen whales, and three different pinnipeds and it is day 1.
I think we need to start pacing ourselves.
More tomorrow,
Capt Art
