Trip Reports

Dear whalewatchers:

Today we arrived soon after sunrise for light on the colored sandstone cliffs of Isla San Jose. Then we were ashore for a desert walk to see plants and birds. Then a coolish snorkel in a gorgeous cove of underwater boulders. The water was super clear for good visibility of reef fishes.

As soon as we set sail (and Charles tried to serve lunch), we found a fin whale mom and calf to watch. This was a very large fin whale cow, It is great when you can see the right side of the jaw and ho white it is. We had the cow and calf at the surface at the same time to see the jaw of both whales. Just a little to the west of the fin whales we came upon an area of manta rays. They were jumping and there was little packs of 4-8 manta rays together on the surface. The water was clean enough to get great looks at these really cool animals. They had a average wing span of about 6-8 feet.

Then next, we came upon a blue whale mom and calf! This pair was very cooperative and we all had beautiful looks at this magnificent animal and her baby.The calf was a bit curious and came to visit us more than once.

We went west into the San Jose channnel to look for something diffferent. We found a herd of 2000 long beaked common dolphin that was spectacular. We stayed for a while and everyone had great opportunities to view and photograph them.

Headed to Isla Catalina tonight for tomorrow.

More then,
Capt Art

Dear whale watchers:
Today we saw a total of probably 30 humpback whales in calm seas and blue water. It was great for photographing all the behaviors of these whales. There were also lots of sea turtles and at least four tropicbirds. A highlight was spotting a whale shark who swam right next to the boat. That’s a first for these trips. A beautiful animal..
This afternoon we had a snorkel and a birdwatch at Los Frailes. Two people saw a sea turtle in the snorkel zone. All of us are happy with this full day of wildlife in Baja!
Looking forward to tomorrow,
Capt Art

Make sure to click the MORE button on these posts to see photos…!
We are watching and listening to humpbacks this morning. Naturalist Rob N. deploys the hydrophone.

Dear whalewatchers:
Today we had to deal with very windy conditions which made wildlife spotting difficult. After a quiet morning, we totaled five blue whales, two Bryde’s whales, at least two large herds of common dolphin, a very cooperative red-billed tropicbird, and loads of shearwaters and other seabirds for the afternoon.
We are headed for the Cabo area and our weather forecast looks much improved.
Capt Art

Dear whalewatchers:

We had a glorious morning in this special place. The 110 cow-calf pairs that are still here kept us very busy! It seems like there were several pairs to watch around Searcher all day, and there were plenty of friendly whales to visit everyone in the pangas. It’s clear we’ve all been touched by a whale.The calves are getting to be three months of age and are inquisitive and playful.

In addition to  panga trips to see the whales, we had a trip into the mangroves as the tide was coming in and found lots of shorebirds and herons feeding. There was also a very windy trip to the beach, as the wind had increased by the afternoon. But the shells and bones were interesting and a desolate beach is always a great place for a walk. And then there was Chef Charles’ boat-made cheesecake with blueberry sauce for dessert!

We left the lagoon for the last time in 2012, but vowed to bring others back again next year to experience the gray whale magic.

We are heading south for new territory and more wildlife.We’ll be offshore Bahia Magdalena all day tomorrow.

Capt Art

Hello whalewatchers,

Today was an incredible day here in Lagina San Ignacio. The weather was great with sunny skies and light winds which made for a great day in the pangas. We were able to get four whalewatching trips in today–two in the morning and two in the afternoon. All four trips had close encounters with cows and calves.

We also were lucky to have cows and calves visiting the Searcher most of the day. At times, three pairs were next to the boat. We had our own close encounters today from the Searcher. We were able to scrub their heads with deck brushes and they seemed to like it. There were plenty of bottlenose dolphins around as well.

Heather Snookal–mom and dad are having just a little fun and they send their love. Wait til you see the photos!

Looking forward to tomorrow,

Capt Art

p.s. Dear family and friends: We are happy and safe and getting very wet from gray whale breath and kisses!

Hello whalewatchers,

It was another great day here in Baja. We had sunny skies and calm seas. We saw a fin whale before arriving at the island this morning along with black-footed and layson albatrosses. After getting ashore half the group stayed closer to the coast and the other half did the full tour around the island and to the light house. Celia and I did the full tour. It was great with good looks at osprey on the nest, Guadalupe fur seals and lots of northern elephant seals. There are mostly females with a few weaners still ashore. Later this afternoon, we saw a few Pacific whitesided dolphin and loads of seabirds– Cassins auklets, black-vented shearwaters, and more.

Looking forward to arriving at Laguna San Ignacio tomorrow.

Capt Art

Hello whalewatchers:

Happy easter to everyone! We had a great day today with really good weather, light winds and calm seas. We did a quick visit to Isla Todos Santos and saw all three pinnipeds hauled out and all the usual suspects on south island–harbor seals. Calif sea lions and elephant seals. We left and headed south. It didn’t take very long before we saw four humpback whales including a cow and calf. Lots of life just south of Isla Todos Santos with plenty of sooty, black vented and pink footed shearwaters, cassins and  rhino auklets, Xantus murlets and red phalropes.

As lunch was being served we came across five blue whales in a 2-mile area.Two of the whales were fluking. We had some great looks at these whales. It is great to see blue whales this far north. The prospects for our wildlife weekend at the end of May should be great for blue whales and plenty of space available.

There was a group of humpbacks in the same area that were tail lobbing and thrashing around that made for good photo opportunities. We continued south and came across a large herd of common dolphins. We were able to spend about a half hour with them before heading further south.It was a great day that ended with a wonderful sunset.

Looking forward to going ashore with Celia tomorrow at Isla San Benito.

Capt Art