Hello whalewatchers: We had a blustery day at Islas San Benito. The island is still in bloom and the beaches appear to be full of elephant seals. I took my usual walk up to both lighthouses–the decomissioned one and the new one at the top of the island. Today’s picture is of the old historic lighthouse with Fresnel lens in it. 
Unfortunately the building is deteriorating but the lens is in good shape. A goal of ours is to someday propose a joint venture with the Mexican government to have the old lighthouse restored. It is just in the idea stage but we are hopeful.
We finished our day with some whalewatching east of San Benito. The conditions weren’t the greatest but we got a good look at a few fin whales, and the grand finale was a juvenile blue whale half that was breaching and lunging and travelling at a pretty good rate of speed. We had some good looks in the binoculars at a distance. There was a tremendous amount of life with hundreds of Cassin’s auklets, gulls and shearwaters as well. Oh I almost forgot the peregrine falcon that was divebombing on Cassin’s auklets off the bow. Everyone enjoyed the island.
More tomorrow, Team Searcher
