Trip Reports

Hello whalewatchers: Today we had a wonderful visit to Isla Santa Catalina, one of the most iconic visitor sites in all of Baja California.  Passengers spent three hours ashore exploring the arroyo at the southeast corner of the island, enjoying the bird life and amazing array of cactus, including the giant cardon.

Santa Catalina is home to the endemic rattleless rattlesnake. Few in number and cryptic in color, we often have trips where we don’t see any. Today we saw five of them, including both the brown and gray color morph. 

In addition to the snakes, we saw fantastic examples of the island’s plant, bird, and lizard life.  Following the hike we had a snorkel session in the cove beneath elephant rock, where all sorts of reef fish and invertebrates were seen. Lunch was duck confit salad with fresh bread.

We’re headed south now to find even more wildlife. The wind is up a bit so wish us luck!
Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Hello whalerwatchers: What a great morning here at Punta Colorado! We got it all started with a great sunrise on the island’s sandstone cliffs.

Then passengers went ashore to go for a desert plant and bird walk. But they also found a speckled rattlesnake, Isla San Jose whiptail lizards,  in addition to the endemic gray thrasher, phainopepela, and a Costa’s hummingbird.  After the walk passengers went to a nice sandy beach for a swim or snorkel with the fantastic variety of fish and invertebrates here. We’re headed north to look for wildlife this afternoon.

This afternoon, we had a beautiful ride and the sunset was great. We found just a few bottlenose dolphins and the crowd-pleasing red- billed tropicbird. Tonight’s dinner is cornish game hen with stuffing and fresh bread. Dessert is a peach cobbler.

We’ve got our anchor down at Isla Santa Catalina so we’re ready to go ashore for a walk and a snorkel in the morning.
Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers,

We had a beautiful sunrise this morning, followed by the arrival of the pangas for whale shark encounters. 

Those that got in the water got to swim with whale sharks and those that stayed in the pangas got a great view of these massive creatures from the surface.  The water temperature was warm with good visibility.

After heading north, we went to Isla Lobos, where there is a blue footed booby population which we observed and photographed.  Shortly after leaving there we found a humpback whale that was in nice water conditions and it fluked EVERY TIME it dove! We’re headed up to Los Islotes to swim with the playful sea lions and lots of fish.

Our adventure continues – more later,

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers,

It’s been a great morning here on the water.  The day started with some bow-riding long-beaked common dolphin and then we saw a couple of blue whales – one fluked for us and got the tail way up in the air for some great photos.  (Click the link for some great photos and details about blue whales!) We have also have seen some sea turtles and Magnificent frigatebirds,  Brown boobies and some Sabine’s Gulls.

Sabine’s Gull © Lehman

We are headed south to look for some more wildlife.

(evening report follows)

Howdy whalewatchers,

It was a slower afternoon for whalewatching,  but really good for watching birds and common dolphin.  Sightings of Cook’s petrels were abundant with lots of Black-vented shearwaters and Magnificent frigatebirds, too.

We are headed south to begin our part of the trip in the Sea of Cortez.  Here’s a shot of some fun folks caught enjoying some wine at sunset 🙂

More tomorrow,

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: Today the passengers enjoyed a walk around West San Benitos Island, led by Searcher naturalist Rob Nawojchik, and The Travelling Naturalist leader, Ian Rowlands. Many elephant seals were seen, including recently weaned pups and older juveniles that have returned to the island to molt. Everyone was thrilled to see the endangered Guadalupe fur seals too. Birders were excited to see a variety of species including several pairs of oprey, peregrine falcons, and horned larks. We’re headed south to San Ignacio Lagoon and we’ll be there after breakfast.

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers,

We had some rain and overcast conditions to begin our day, but that didn’t phase us.  We’re up to 7 blue whales this morning! We have also seen a flipper flapping, breaching humpback as well as both long- and short-beaked common dolphin.  Oh, and also a north bound gray whale!  We have observed lots of pink-footed shearwaters and a Laysan albatross too. So… that’s our morning here. We’re currently waiting on our second fluking blue whale to surface.  What a great start to our day.

@ Lehman

More later,
Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Sightings improved even more this afternoon with a total of 12 blue whales sighted. And even more common dolphins throughout the entire day. A Bryde’s whale appeared for a few breaths. As for the birds, we added black-footed albatross and a steady northern migration of surf scoters and brant geese. We are headed to Isla San Benito for an island stop tomorrow.

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher