FacebookTwitterYouTubeInstagram

Trip Reports

Tour #2 Isla Santa Catalina and whales, whales, and more whales!

Hello whalewatchers,
What a day we had today! It started out with a great sunrise again, the lighting on the peninsula was tremendous. The group went ashore early and had great hike. The crew went over on a mission to find a rattleless rattlesnake and found two. (Attached photo is taken by Hilary Thompson) They marked the spot for the rest of the group and everyone got a good look at one. Then there was a snorkel for those interested, and Kaptain Kenny’s Koastal Kruise for those who preferred that. Pretty krazy! Then there were Chuckwagon Cheeseburgers in Paradise for lunch!
We went offshore and despite a little wind and swell, we had a great show with a Bryde’s whale cow and calf, and once again we had a playful calf that breached and flopped around. We were able to keep track of them since they were right on the surface the whole time. After that we had a group of common dolphin and then a big group of bottlenose dolphin that performed for us.

We saw some whales in the distance and on our way there, we spotted some small whales that we thought might be more bottlenose dolphin but they turned out to be false killer whales. These are fairly unusual for us to find so we are thrilled! There were about 40 animals along with a fin whale too. We stayed with them for about an hour and decided to put the hydrophone in the water. We were able to pick their squeals so that was pretty cool too.

False killer whales

The whole afternoon the crew and the naturalists were seeing whales in a couple different directions and so we went over to the peninsula and found two big blue whales feeding and one was a fluker.
Holy smokes! What an afternoon! Four blues, four fins, two Bryde’s, 40 false killer whales, 100 bottlenose dolphins,  50 common dolphin, and the possibility of 1 humpback.
Incredible and all in one day in the Sea of Cortez.

We are staying around this area tomorrow, and I can’t wait for the morning,
Capt Art

2020-07-15T16:35:25-07:00February 15th, 2011|Trip Reports|
Read More

Tour #2 Valentine’s Day blue whale!

Hello whalewatchers,
Happy Valentines day to everyone!

We had a great day with gorgeous weather. It was calm and we had no wind. It doesn’t get much better than this here in the Sea of Cortez. We started our day with a beautiful sunrise at Punta Colorado, Isla San Jose. A Krazy Koastal Kruise for everyone was next, then a walk up the arroyo and to top it off, a snorkel. This all happened before noon. (Hilary Thompson’s photo of the ash-throated flycatcher is attached. These flycatchers are often seen on Baja’s islands and peninsula locations.)

We then travelled west towards the peninsula and were rewarded with a big blue whale that was very cooperative allowing us to get close and follow it for a while. After that we came accross a group of pilot whales and we had a good time with them. We travelled a little way north but didn’t see too much, except a family of Craveri’s murrelets with two adults and two chicks. After that we decided to stop and turn the engines off and enjoy the sunset, which was spectacular.
Looking forward to tomorow at Isla Catalina and the weather forecast looks good.
Capt Art

p.s. We’ll be enjoying some chocolate-dipped strawberries tonite and toasting our loved ones!

2011-02-19T15:21:40-08:00February 14th, 2011|Trip Reports|
Read More

Tour #2 Humpbacks Feb 13

Hello whalewatchers,
Today we spent the morning watching humpback whales. We had whales in view for the entire morning, with around a total of 30 humpbacks and seven gray whales, which was interesting to see this far south again. We had excellent looks at humpbacks, close-up looks at flukes, but not too much in the breaching behavior but some great whalewatching.
The wind came up around 11:30 so we headed for Bahia Los Frailes and everyone had a nice walk and some great bird watching. Those who chose to snorkel had great visibility and saw lots of fish. The water temp is cool at 67 degrees but for those who had a wetsuit, it wasn’t a problem.
We are headed north and the weather is good so far and the forecast looks favorable for the next few days so we are looking forward to getting up in the Sea of Cortez.
More tomorrow,
Capt Art

2011-02-13T21:27:18-08:00February 13th, 2011|Trip Reports|
Read More

Tour #2 Bryde’s whales Feb 12

Hello whalewatchers,
Well this afternoon was very productive with plenty of whale sightings. We got great looks at a Bryde’s whalecow and calf along with 4 or 5 other Bryde’s whales. We also spotted a few humpbacks, and at the end of the day we had a good look at a fin whale cow and calf. The cow was a really big fin whale and the calf was pretty young.
All in all we had a great day offshore Bahia Magdalena, with the weather and the whale sightings..
The sunset was great again and we are looking forward to tomorrow.
Capt Art

2011-02-13T07:30:34-08:00February 13th, 2011|Trip Reports|
Read More

Tour #2 Mid-day dolphins and humpbacks Feb 12

Hello whalewatchers,
Here’s our mid-day report from offshore Bahia Magdalena. We had calm seas, sunny skies, and a beautiful day. We came across a few dolphin this morning and the first bird we saw was a red-billed tropicbird. We also found a few humpback whales that were  traveling so we added another species of whale to our list.
A little further south we came across a megaherd of common dolphin. There had to be 2000 animals spread over a square mile area. It was really exciting to see so many dolphins! We followed one more humpback whale for awhile with great looks, but no acrobatics or fluking so we are taking a lunch break before continuing on.

More later,

Capt Art

p.s. Sally Walton took this photo of a big herd of common dolphins last year!

2011-02-12T13:02:04-08:00February 12th, 2011|Trip Reports|
Read More

Tour #2 Feb 11 Laguna San Ignacio

Hello whalewatchers,
We’ve had another glorious day in Baja with sunny skies and calm seas, and lots of whales in the lagoon. Everyone had a great day. This afternoon there was a option to go to the mangroves and the beach. They saw great birds and a coyote and had a wonderful walk on the beach.
The other panga went back out to visit the whales and they had a phenomenal trip with close encounters with a cow and calf for the majority of the trip. They all came back to the boat soaking wet from their trip. A good time was had by all.
We finished the day with the green flash at sunset. The ocean is calm and the forecast looks great for tomorrow.
More then,
Capt Art

2011-02-21T16:41:22-08:00February 11th, 2011|Trip Reports|
Read More

Tour #2 LOLLING

Hello all,
Today’s word, courtesy of our UK friends, is LOLLING–as in, the whales are lolling around today. We are enjoying wonderful weather with calm winds. And top that off with great whalewatching and plenty of whales in the observation zone. We had two trips this morning, and this afternoon we have an option for a beach walk and a mangrove trip. And for those who can’t get enough of the whales, and you know who THEY are, another trip to visit the whales.
More later with the day’s wrap-up,
Capt Art

p.s. Those on the mangrove trip spotted a coyote. Can you spot it in Hilary Thompson’s photo?

2011-02-19T15:17:55-08:00February 11th, 2011|Trip Reports|
Read More

Tour #2 Feb 10 Laguna San Ignacio

Hello all,

This afternoon’s trip was a little slower than this morning’s but there was really good whalewatching with plenty of gray whales in the lagoon. We had a mother/calf pair near the boat today too. The weather changed a little and we had a light breeze that made it a little chilly in the pangas. But everyone had a great time. Dinner was excellent and we are planning to shut the generator off for a little while for some quiet time and do some stargazing. Hope we hear some whales breathing…
Looking forward to tomorrow with the weather forecast favorable. We plan on gettting an early start in the morning.
More tomorrow,

Capt Art

2011-02-10T19:39:39-08:00February 10th, 2011|Trip Reports|
Read More

Tour #2 Feb 10 GOBSMACKED!

Hello Whalewatchers,

Here’s a mid-day report from Laguna San Ignacio. For those of you in the UK that might be following along, the word of the day is GOBSMACKED!The entire group is GOBSMACKED  about their visit with the gray whales this morning. Apparently that means everyone is happy and they are not quite sure how we are going to top this morning’s trip. The weather is calm and sunny and as far as the lagoon is concerned, it can’t get much better. We are seeing lots of whales and dolphins so far here. I will leave it at that and hope for a GOBSMACKED afternoon.
Capt Art

2011-02-10T12:00:50-08:00February 10th, 2011|Trip Reports|
Read More

Tour #2 February 9 Islas San Benito

Hello whalewatchers,
Today was a great day with awesome weather– sunny skies and no wind– and calm seas. Everyone enjoyed Islas San Benito and had great viewing of Guadalupe fur seals from the skiffs on the way to the island. And everyone saw all the classic behaviors associated with northern elephant seals such as mating, males fighting, nursing pups — all on the main beach behind the village.
It was a great day for a hike with perfect temperatures. So a good time was had by all.
We are headed to Laguna San Ignacio and we hope to arrive around 8am.
More tomorrow,
Capt Art

2011-02-21T16:39:11-08:00February 10th, 2011|Trip Reports|
Read More

© Searcher Natural History Tours. All rights reserved.

Baja Whale

Captain's Blog

Categories

Archives

x
Go to Top