Trip Reports

Hello whalewatchers: We started our day with a group of long-beaked common dolphins on our way to Islas Todos Santos. At the island we saw the brown pelicans in full breeding plumage and hundreds of birds in the colony on the island. There were seven female northern elephant seals with pups and a single male on the beach, with a few harbor seals as well. We saw California sea lions on the rocks off the island. The peregrine falcon was in the usual spot on the highest point on the island. We did see one pelagic commorant in flight.
After leaving the island it didn’t take long to see our first whale–a single humpback. A little further south we saw a trio of gray whales heading south and we had great looks at them. We came across a group of 5 or 6 gray whales that appeared to be headed north but we weren’t sure of that. We had a change in the conditions with some northwest wind and swell so it made it hard to follow them. The wind increased throughout the day but we did see 7 Laysan albatrosses and lots of shearwaters and fulmars. We can’t forget the Scripps’ murrelets sitting on the water.
More tomorrow, Team Searcher

They’ve had a busy morning already with sightings of gray whales, humpback whales, laysan albatross and other seabirds, but they have some wind this afternoon and are going to keep heading south, down wind for a more comfortable ride. All is well with passengers and crew…a more full report will follow this evening!

They are currently enjoying Risso’s dolphins this morning, and that adds up to 12 species of cetaceans in one trip! Let’s see if they can add another this afternoon for a baker’s dozen.

Dear whalewatchers; Another fantastic day today! We had a great walk at Bahia Agua Verde after a calm night on the anchor there. Lots of different birds to look at with the highlight being a vermillion flycatcher. After leaving the bay we came across another species of balleen whale–a minke. We just keep adding to the cetacean list each day. We travelled for awhile and came upon another big blue whale for a few looks and decided to get back down to the area where we were two days ago. we were rewarded by multiple sperm whales on the surface. No telling how many but there were quite a few. The crew did a great job again spotting these whales from along way away. We bypassed a breaching humpback and a group of pilot whales to get close to the sperm whales while they were on the surface. We stayed with these whales for at least 2 hours. It was awesome!

The crew saw more spouts further south in the San Jose channel and so we went towards them and we came across a group of five sperm whales on the surface we stayed until they dove and saw three flukes at once. Could it get any better? Not sure how.
Our last sighting has been a humpback feeding with a few bottlenose dolphin joining in.
What an incredible day. We are finishing it off with margaritas and a buffet on the back deck. Party time! Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: What a great day! The island was great! The weather is fantastic! We left the island and the first whale we saw was sperm whale. It was a single male that was on the surface for a long time. We waited for it to resurface and unfortunately we had to wait for 50 minutes and then we had to travel 3 miles to get close to the area. The whale was down again for another 50 minutes and we only had to travel 2 miles to get close and I think everyone got a view in the binoculars or the telephoto lens. We elected to continue on and see what the rest of the afternoon would bring. We found lots of bird life with dolphins and a couple of small humpbacks. We were close to Isla Monserate in the area that we traditionally see lots of life.
One humpback  lunged through the bait ball with the pelicans, boobies, gulls and dolphins were feeding on. Quite a sight!
Today’s picture is from the island–the famous (practically) endemic yellow-footed gull.
Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: We have another wonderful day in the Sea of Cortez at Isla Santa Catalina and a nice hike in the arroyo. The island is pretty green and the trail is a little over-grown in spots. There’s lots of beautiful cactus and a few flowers. A few people went for a snorkel and some people went on a “Krazy Koastal Kruise with Kapt Kenny” (and Capt John).
Not sure how we are going to match yesterday but we will give it a go.
This morning’s picture is from the arroyo with the Sea of Cortez in the background. What a lovely day.
More later, Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: After a great morning at Punta Colorada, we went out to look for whales. The crew did a masterful job at spotting today–we had an incredible afternoon. We started with a blue whale and stayed with it for around an hour. This blue whale was a big animal, much bigger than the blue whale we saw off Mag Bay. The crew spotted some other spouts in the distance where belonged to a pod of pilot whales. We spent 45 minutes with pilot whales and decided to see what the other whales were in the area. We saw a pair of fin whales, a Bryde’s cow/calf pair and a breaching humpback whale in the distance!  Not bad for a 3-hour period. We finished the day with a surface-feeding blue whale. This whale was really big. We stayed with the whale unti it was dark and then we started motoring towards Isla Santa Catalina. We had quite an afternoon with a picture of pilot whales close to the boat. I forgot to mention all the manta rays we saw jumping. Wow!
Team Searcher

p.s. In late-breaking news, I just got word that they are seeing bow-riding dolphins in the bioluminescent water tonight–a biological light show!

Hello whalewatchers, We had great travelling last night with calm seas and light winds. This allows us to visit one of our favorite spots in the Sea of Cortez. Punta Colorada, Isla San Jose. We arrived just as the sun was coming up and so we had a chance to see the beautiful red cliffs here. This morning’s picture is of the cliffs with the shadow of the Searcher at the bottom of the cliffs. After breakfast everyone wiil have a chance to go for a hike in a wonderful canyon and after another chance to snorkel.
More later, Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: Well our luck continues to be good! We started our day in the Gorda Banks area with humpbacks singing over the PA system, thanks to our hydrophone. Several humpbacks were in the area, so it was hard to decide which whales to watch. Since we had several whals close by we just sat there and let them come to us. There was a group of 6 whales, including a cow /calf pair, that stayed relatively close for about 30 minutes and then there was a trio that were showing off a bit. We went towrds them and they were tail-lobbing! They stayed with us for close to an hour and we had some close encounters with the whale right next to and under the boat. What show! After they decided to leave, we headed north to see if we could find more whales performing. There were several whales breaching in the distance, and as we see sometimes when you get in the area of the breacher, they stop and so we continued north. There had to be 70-80 humpbacks in the area we worked this morning. It was great. I forgot to mention the weather was calm and sunny. The ocean was clean and blue so it was easy to see the whales below the surface, just like yesteday with the blue whale. I think the whales like us…
We are headed to Bahia Los Frailes for a walk and a snorkel. The water temp is 73 degrees or 21 degrees Celsius.
More later, Team Searcher
Today’s picture is a humpback on the surface, upside down and very close to the boat. Note the pleats in the throat.

Hello whalewatchers: We had a nice afternoon with awesome weather–clear skies and warm temps–and we saw a few more humpbacks, for a total of 15 humpbacks, 3 blue whales, and 3 gray whales. We also saw a group of bottlenose dolphin, and then to finish the day a large herd of long-beaked common dolphin–at least 3000 animals. A nice way to end a phenomenal day.
Looking forward to more humpbacks tomorrow. Team Searcher