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Tour #5 Friendly Gray Whales of Laguna San Ignacio March 28

Hello whalewatchers,
What a  remarkable day in Laguna San Ignacio, with cows and calf everywhere we look! We even had them hanging around Searcher all day. Everyone had a close encounter on both trips today. I think everyone was a little overwhelmed and a little reserved in the pangas today. I think that might change tomorrow and I hope we will have the same conditions. The weather was good with just a little wind to deal with after lunch. The whale watching from the boat today was also phenomenal.
Our plan is to start the day tomorrow with a trip to the mangroves since the tide is high at sunrise.
Also I wanted to mention that after posting  yesterday’s blog, we had a blue whale sighting after leaving Islas San Benito. It was single whale, that was a” long winded” as we say, staying down for 10 minutes and only staying at the surface for 3 or 4 breaths. We hope to have other opportunities to see blue whales later in the trip.
But this means we now have seen five different species of baleen whales in our first two days of this trip which is remarkable! We have seen nine different cetaceans so far, along with four pinnipeds.
More tomorrow,
Capt Art

p.s. photo by Charles Howell

2020-07-15T16:35:23-07:00March 28th, 2011|Trip Reports|
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Tour #4 Bryde’s whales March 14

Hello whalewatchers,
We had a little slow period this afternoon where we didn’t see too much, but then we came across an area of bait fish on the surface. First we noticed the shearwaters feeding,  then we had great looks at a Bryde’s whale cow and calf. The ridges on the cow’s rostrum were very evident. Then we went a little further and came across a great big blue whale that we were able to track and we had some awesome close looks with perfect lighting, Then as a finale, the whale fluked right next to the boat! It doesn’t get much better than that.
The weather is good and we are looking forward to tomorrow where the forecast looks good as well.
Capt Art

2011-03-14T20:31:51-07:00March 14th, 2011|Trip Reports|
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Tour #4 BLUE whales! March 14

Hello whalewatchers,
Well we have had quite a morning already. It is only 9am and we have seen breaching humpbacks, a large herd of short-beaked common dolphin and two blue whales. They are all heading northwest so we haven’t really gone anywhere thus far, but we don’t mind!
The weather is good with a large ground swell that is very far apart and a light breeze from the northwest. Good enough conditions to work in today.
More later,
Capt Art

p.s. Photo is by Charles Howell of a surfacing blue whale, looking right down the blowholes. Notice the greenish water just below the surface? That’s the part of the whale still underwater.

2011-03-14T11:33:33-07:00March 14th, 2011|Trip Reports|
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Tour #3 Isla Santa Catalina and blue whales

(Many thanks to Hilary Thompson for her beautiful photo of Isla Santa Catalina landscape!)

Hello whalewatchers,
This morning we were at Isla Santa Catalina for a hike and a snorkel. The wind was back blowing strong, but fortunately we were anchored behind this wonderful island. We stayed here until after lunch and then headed out and see if we can locate a whale.
We went towards the peninsula and we saw two blue whales right away. The wind  diminished and we were able to work and follow the whales. We spent a little time with these blue whales and continued south looking for something else. We found more blue whales and had great looks with good lighting.

With an hour left of daylight a male sperm whale breached in the distance so we went over that direction and were able to get a look at the whale through binoculars. It surfaced three times, 20 minutes apart, and on the last surfacing we were able to get close enough to see the whale without binoculars. Oddly enough the whale didn’t fluke, it just dissappeared. Most of the time sperm whales fluke to dive deep, so maybe it didn’t have to dive very deep. Everyone was happy to see a sperm whale.
We’re having margaritas and BBQ buffet on the back deck and are hoping for a chance to see bioluminesence tonight.
Capt Art

2011-03-04T11:58:53-08:00March 4th, 2011|Trip Reports|
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Tour #2 Isla Santa Catalina and blue whales

Hello whalewatchers,
Well, we are certainly living right! We expected to have good weather for the morning and then possibly have some more wind in the afternoon. Not only did we get great weather this morning, but this afternoon it is even better, with the sea glassing off completely and the swell diminishing to where the boat is barely moving. We are liking it!
We had a great walk this morning at Bahia Tambobiche with good birding. We left there to look for whales and we saw a pair of blue whales not too far from there. We had excellent looks at these whales with perfect lighting and we were able to keep track of them so everyone had a good look. We stayed for over two hours and then we left to look for something different.

We came across a big herd of common dolphin that gave us a great show. There were at least 1000 dolphin in the herd. We left them in search of something different and we found an area of birds feedin,g with balls of krill on the surface and then two Bryde’s whales showed up. We had a great show with Brydes whales feeding on the balls of krill and small bait fish. It was spectacular!
Headed to Isla Santa Catalina tonight for another calm spot and a good night’s rest.

Looking forward to tomorrow,
Capt Art

p.s. Thanks to Chef Charles for the dolphin photo!

2011-03-02T19:23:44-08:00March 2nd, 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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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|
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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|
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Tour #2 Feb 8 Islas Todos Santos and offshore

Hello whalewatchers,
We started our trip with some great sightings before we got to our first destination of Islas Todos Santos. I hope this an omen for things to come on this trip! We saw our first whale right after leaving our Mexican clearance in Ensenada, and it was a blue whale! I don’t recall seeing blue whales this far north at this time of the year. After a while we lost track of the blue whale as the conditions were very gray with the early light and overcast. We saw another whale and thought it might be the blue whale, but it was a fin whale and so we spent time with the fin. We had great looks at both whales and that was before 8 am.
We travelled to Islas Todos Santos and saw some pinnepeds: northern elephant seals and harbor seals. There were also oystercatchers and nesting brown pelicans .
We left there and started south. We soon came across a group of Risso’s dolphins and had great looks at them. Travelling a little further south, we saw another smaller group of Risso’s.

The highlight of the afternoon was an area of surface feeding fin whales. One group of five whales in particular stayed at the surface for a long time and we had them close to the boat. They were feeding on the big balls of krill. There were hundreds of Cassin’s auklets in the area too.  We had to break off and continue south to keep to our schedule.
We did see a small group of short-beaked common dolphin, a red-billed tropic bird and a laysan albatross in the distance.
What a remarkable day for our first day! Looking forward to tomorrow at Islas San Benito.
Capt Art

2020-07-15T16:35:25-07:00February 8th, 2011|Trip Reports|
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