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Trip Reports

Tour #3 Humpbacks singing and breaching February 27

Hello whalewatchers,
Today was a great day at the Gorda Banks offshore Cabo San Lucas. We had great looks at humpback whales starting with a big group of 8. Lots and lots of fluke shots were taken today. After that, we were lucky to find two cow/calf pairs in shallow water and they were breaching and tail lobbing and exhibiting all those great behaviors you hope for on this day.
Around lunch time we headed north to Bahia Los Frailes and everyone went ashore and saw lots of birds and had a good walk. We are headed north tonight.
More tomorrow,
Capt Art

2011-02-28T19:01:34-08:00February 28th, 2011|Trip Reports|
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Tour #3 Loads of gray whales! February 26

Hello whalewatchers,
We had another great day in Laguna San Ignacio! Everywhere you look there are whales. It is truly the most whales we’ve seen here in a long time. We also had a visit at Searcher from the whale named Kuyima, with the light colored head and the bump on the lower left jaw. It’s remarkable that this whale continues to show up and exhibit the same behavior as  previous years, like rubbing on the anchor line and staying around the boat for hours. It was a great show from the deck today and that whale kept us busy on board today.

The trip to the mangroves was short this morning, due to the low tide, but it was enjoyed by all. We also had an afternoon trip to the beach for those who wanted to go and plenty of time in the pangas for all. We have great weather with just a little wind this afternoon. We are headed south tonight and will see what tomorrow brings.

More then,
Capt Art

2011-02-27T16:54:15-08:00February 27th, 2011|Trip Reports|
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Tour #3 Laguna San Ignacio magic February 25

Hello whalewatchers,
Today has been a tremendous day which started with a great sunrise and a group of common dolphin joining us before we entered the lagoon. We crossed the bar at the lagoon entrance and were amazed at the amount of whales. As we traveled up the lagoon there were more and more whales, and when the pangas arrived the pangueros told us the last census taken reported almost 350 whales in the lagoon. Wow!
Needless to say, the whalewatching was superb and everyone came back beaming after their first trip this morning. The weather is great with light winds all day from the north and the afternoon trip was equal to the morning trip with plenty of close encounters–from cows with calves, single animals, and even a pair of whales hanging around Searcher. The crew who stayed aboard even had some great photo opportunities.
What a day! The sunset is also beautiful and we are looking forward to “lights out” and quiet time tonight.
More tomorrow,
Capt Art

2011-02-27T16:53:28-08:00February 25th, 2011|Trip Reports|
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Tour #3 February 24 Islas San Benito

Hello whalewatchers,
Today we were at Islas San Benito. There were plenty of Guadalupe fur seals to observe and photograph on the way to the island this morning. And the group was greeted with four male elephant seals on the landing beach on Isla San Benito west.

Everyone enjoyed the hike around the island today since we had great weather, sunny skies, a little breeze to keep the temperatures just right for hiking. Several people mentioned the great views of osprey on nests. There are still plenty of elephant seals still, though some females will start to leave the island, leaving their pups behind to become “weaners.”

Looking forward to Laguna San Ignacio tomorrow,
More then,
Capt Art

p.s. The photo is of an elephant seal “weaner,” taken last trip by Chef Charles.

2011-02-24T19:21:52-08:00February 24th, 2011|Trip Reports|
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Tour #3 February 23 Gray whales and pelican chicks

Hello whalewatchers,

Yesterday we started trip #3. After clearing into Mexico, we visited Islas Todos Santos. The island is still very green and there gas been a change there. There are several brown pelican chicks on nests! It was a pleasant surprise to see all those chicks.

We saw our first whale close to the island and we had great looks at it–a fin whale. A little further south we came across a large herd of long-beaked comon dolphins. It is always great to spend time with dolphins.
We had our first look a gray whales today also, with three groups of northbound whales. We followed them for awhile and we had great looks. There were 4 to 6 whales in each group.
We didnt see much this afternoon except a fin whale right at sunset.
Looking forward to tomorrow,
Capt Art

2011-02-24T19:25:24-08:00February 23rd, 2011|Trip Reports|
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Tour #2 Last day has a surprise Feb 17

Hello whalewatchers,

We had a great day with excellent weather again–nice, flat calm seas. Definitely one of the highlights this trip has been the beautiful weather. We started today with a morning walk at Nopolo Village on the peninsula. We were able to see our friends from Nopolo  on this trip and fill up their fresh-water containers and offer them some fresh fruits and veggies. We travelled south towards Islas Los Islotes and we saw a few Risso’s dolphins, a large raft of storm petrels (both least and black), a few bottlenose dolphin and a blue whale in the distance.
Right before we arrived at Los Islotes, we saw a group of large manta rays and we had great looks at them as they were on the surface. At Los Isolotes, the sea lions performed for the snorkellers and after that we headed south again with hopes for one last whale to end the trip. One species missing from our trip list was the highly anticipated (by some passengers) SPERM whale! As if on cue, a large male sperm whale surfaced close to the boat with only about 40 minutes of daylight left. Watching sperm whales can take a lot of patience since they are very long and deep divers, but this one surfaced very near us. Here’s a shot by Val Shore:

Sperm whale blows at sunset

It was a great way to end the trip. There was yet another great sunset and a spectacular moon rise, all within a hour of the close sperm whale.
Looking forward to next trip.
Capt Art

p.s. Just added Hilary Thompson’s photo of the sperm whale here!

2020-07-15T16:35:24-07:00February 18th, 2011|Trip Reports|
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Tour #2 Sea of Cortez at its finest! Feb 17

Hello whalewatchers,
We enjoyed the Sea of Cortez at its finest with great sunny weather, calm seas, and the best conditions for spotting you can imagine. We saw 15 blue whales, two fin whales, 6 Bryde’s whales, two dwarf sperm whales, which means we can add another new species to our trip list. There is a tremendous amount of sea life and bird life. It just doesn’t get much better.
More tomorrow,
Capt Art

p.s. As promised, a photo of Kogia (dwarf sperm whale) taken by Chef Charles Howell. These animals are hard to spot and even harder to photograph!

Dwarf sperm whale surfacing

2020-07-15T16:35:24-07:00February 17th, 2011|Trip Reports|
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Tour #2 Fin and Blue whale morning Feb 16

Hello whalewatchers,
We began today with another spectacular sunrise with wonderful light on one of my favorite parts of the peninsula. After pulling the anchor we came across a pair of fin whales and we followed them closely for and had tremendous looks. Fin whales with the peninsula in the background was beautiful. It didn’t take long to come across a few blue whales–5 or 6 total–including one that was fluking. We also saw the example of the Vermilion Sea (another name for the Sea of Cortez) with large areas of red krill on the surface. We spent a couple of hours with the blue whales.
We left that area for a large area of pelicans, boobies and gulls diving. There were miles and miles of birds diving and surprisingly, no whales or dolphins. We did see a humpback finally and a fin whale in the distance. It was great to see all that life in just a morning.
More later,
Capt Art

2011-02-21T16:47:42-08:00February 16th, 2011|Trip Reports|
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