Howdy whalewatchers,
We had some good bird watching yesterday afternoon. We saw some small sharks as well. We then headed to Isla San Jose to do our traditional back deck BBQ in a calm place. En route, we did enjoy watching some bow-riding bottlenose dolphin. Last night was fun – this group is all smiles 🙂 Chef Charley’s signature barbecue sauce was excellent, as usual!
It’s a nice morning here – we had a humpback whale sighting right off the bat – before we got to Isla San Francisco we got to see a fluking humpback. After dropping anchor in the caldera-shaped bay, the passengers went ashore for a two-hour exploratory walk.
Half the group hiked the trail along the knife-edge ridge leading to the mountain peak framing the south side of the bay. From this vantage point the group had a spectacular view of the Searcher anchored in the clear blue circular bay, against the backdrop of the multi-layered and -colored mountains of the peninsula. During the rest of the hike, we observed the plants and animals within at least six micro-habitats comprising this small but diverse island.
The other half of the group focused on birds. Many species were seen, including least sandpiper, peregrine falcon, red-tailed hawk, and osprey.
Photo credit: Osprey nest/J. Lasnier
Later in the morning, everyone enjoyed a snorkel or beach swim. The water was the warmest and clearest we’ve had all season! Highlights included HUNDREDS of Cortez garden eels in the sand flats, and a huge school of spottail grunt. Nice way to spend our last full day together with our fun-loving “The Travelling Naturalist” group – and a great end to another wonderful Baja whalewatching season aboard Searcher!
Capt Aaron and Team Searcher
