Captain's Blog

Hello whalewatchers,
Today we were in the Gorda Bank area. We started the day with some humpback whales singing on the hydrophone. It had to be one of the best sessions with the hydrophone we have had. The whales were very loud and clear. Everyone really enjoyed the experience. There were several whales in the area. After the hydrophone session, we watched a cow and calf with an escort for a while and then continued on. There were several whales to look at and we saw several breaches, tail lobbbing, pectoral flipper flapping and all the wonderful behaviors asoociated with humpbacks.
There were some bottlenose dolphin in the same area a s the humpbacks and at times they were with the humpbacks.
The weather cooperated for most of the morning so that was great to have calm seas and light winds. That changed around eleven o’clock so we headed for Bahia Los Frailes. Everyone went ashore and saw great hummingbirds at the feeders in camping area. About half the group came back for a snorkel session. The visibility was good and there were plenty of fish to  look at.
We are traveling slowly tonight in some heavy winds and we will see how far up the Sea of Cortez we get tonight.
More tomorrow,
Capt Art

Naturalists Paul Jones and Marc Webber compiled this list of birds seen on Tour #1, Click the link to open the file.

Baja Bird List, 2012

Hello whalewatchers,
Today we had great weather with light winds and calm seas. We started out with a few dolphins and a few shearwaters. The morning started  a little slow and then we got started!  First it was a pair of humpbacks and then a single blue whale that we had a really good looks at.  Then a few more humpbacks and then the usual slow period south of the entrance to Bahia Magdalena. We came across a Bryde’s whale and then shortly after that a fin whale. So we have seen four different species of baleen whales just today.
There were plenty of pink-footed shearwaters and the further south we got more red phalaropes, jaegers and frigatebirds. The tally on the phalaropes reached into the thousands.
We came across another Bryde’s whale that gave us a good look and then the finale with a very large blue whale  that we were able to stay with. We had some excellent looks up close of this blue whale and that made everyone very happy.
The sunset is fabulous and we are looking forward to some more whales tomorrow.
Capt Art

Hello whalewatchers,
We had a tremendous day in Laguna San Ignacio today. There are a lot of whales in this lagoon.  The census reported 325 whales four days ago and there has been a steady stream of whales all day. Passengers enjoyed lots of close encounters with cows and calves. We had a cow and calf visit us here at the Searcher for an hour or more and that is always a treat to see.
The weather was great with sunny skies and light winds all day. With the clear skies it should be great for l”ights out” this evening.
Looking forward to tomorrow with more panga trips to visit the whales and a mid morning mangrove trip with the tide.
Capt Art

Hello whalewatchers,
We had a great day today at Islas San Benito–great weather light winds and sunny skies. There were lots of Northern elephant seals, sea lions. Guadalupe furs seals and a few harbor seals. And good looks at ospreys on their nests.
Everyone enjoyed the hike to the lighthouse with almost everyone participating. The flowers are in full bloom with even more flowers than two weeks ago. There are carpets of yellow flowers, lots of blue dicks, cliff spurge, island mallow and a few Dudleya blooming.
We are currently traveling southeast towards Laguna San Ignacio arriving after breakfast tomorrow. Looking forward to getting back there. Especially with the latest census numbers with over 300 hundred gray whales in the lagoon.
More tomorrow,
Capt Art

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