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
