Captain's Blog

Hello whalewatchers,

We arrived at Isla San Benito at daylight. There was rain in the forecast and now we are seeing that the forecast was correct, but we had a great sunrise with rainbows! Everyone had a good hike with plenty of wildlife. Most of the adult elephant seals have left to feed, with a few returning to the island to rest. Lots of weaner pups hauled out, and a couple of males still hanging around.

There was a good sighting of Guadalupe fur seals. A group of 12 seals were together in one area. And ospreys were spotted on their nests.

Guadalupe fur seals @ Chris Shields

After leaving the island we came across two Laysan albatross and two black-footed albatross. The shearwaters and auklets were abundant as well.

Black-footed albatross @ McGrath

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

We departed last night on trip #3 and everything went smoothly with our immigration check in Ensenada. We travelled out to Islas Todos Santos and came across a small group of long-beaked common dolphin. It was our first look at wildlife! The current status of elephant seals at the island is that all females have left their pups. It’s time for them to go back to the feeding grounds. There is only one adult male left on the beach. Two weeks ago, there were 12 females with pups and a single male.

There are several harbor seals with pups on the beach and in the water. There are lots of brown pelicans on the nest and we got a look at a peregrine falcon on the highest peak. We left the island and saw several northbound gray whales. We spent some time with a group of four so everyone could get a look at their first great whale of the trip. We found another group of long-beaked common dolphins, about 500 animals. We spent some time with this group in great conditions with calm seas and clean water.

The birdwatching was good as well this morning.  We saw lots of Cassin’s auklets and black vented shearwaters. We continued south and anticipate arriving at Isla San Benito after sunrise.
Captain Art and Team Searcher

Afternoon update:

We had some unusual rain today but a very calm ocean. We had a rare sighting of five Cuvier’s beaked whales. They were at the surface multiple times and within a 100 yards of the boat. It was the highlight of the day!
Traveling overnight, we will arrive at Isla San Benito after breakfast tomorrow.

Searcher at Anchor – Isla San Benito by Lee Morgan

Capt Art and Team Searcher

March 1-4, 2019

Greetings whalewatchers:

We arrived in La Paz bay this morning and the activity of the morning is swimming with whale sharks. The water was clear and the whale sharks were cooperative. Once they were located there was no issues with getting good pictures. Divers and observers got great looks and photos at close range.

After completing the shark portion of the morning we cruised over to Los Islotes for some birding and sea lion watching, as well as a round of snorkeling to finish out the day. It was a busy day and a good time was had by all. Capt. Buzz and Team Searcher

Greetings whalewatchers:

Our day at San Jose started with a hike and snorkeling. Everyone enjoyed good views on the hike followed by good fish interactions underwater. At lunchtime it was time to pull the anchor and go whalewatwching. The weather was calm and so we decided to swing outside Las Animas and explore along a steep submarine shelf. Dwarf sperm whales are known to inhabit the area but are only seen on the calmest of days. This was one of those days. With several pairs in the area there was good viewing. Including a cow calf pair (pictured). We were also surprised to see a small group of the rare pygmy beaked whales along the same drop off.
Capt. Buzz and Team Searcher

Dwarf sperm mother and calf pair

 

Greetings whalewatchers:
A beautiful sunrise greeted us and started our day at Isla Santa Catalina. Hiking on the island was the first order of business followed by snorkeling and “Krazy Koastal” skiff rides. Now it was time to pull the anchor and go whalewatching. We headed the Searcher farther up the Gulf towards Monserate and Carmen islands. There was a little more breeze this afternoon. However, when we got to the area between the islands we were greeted by the blows of fin whales and blue whales. We spent the remainder of our day in this area enjoying the large spouts and some good looks at these massive mammals.
Capt. Buzz and Team Searcher

 

Fin whale

Greetings whalewatchers:

The pristine anchorage of Isla San Francisco was the starting location of our last days’ activities. There were two hike destinations this morning. One on the hill behind the anchorage and the other across the salt flats across the island. Snorkeling and beach walking were next up, followed by lunch and whalewatching while heading down the coast towards Cabo. The ride downhill was quite pleasant and late in the afternoon we saw a cow calf pair of fin whales. This is the last report of a memorable trip aboard the Searcher!
Capt. Buzz and Team Searcher

Isla San Francisco anchorage

Greetings whalewatchers,

We started the Sea of Cortez portion of our trip this morning. We are enjoying beautiful weather, 72.5 degree blue water, and good action on the humpback whales. We kept working up the line and never ran out of whales to observe. By 10 a.m. we arrived to Gorda Banks and all of a sudden, it was whales everywhere!

We had humpback whale breachers, flipper flappers, and a red-billed tropicbird all at the same time! At noon we left the whales to head up the line for a beach excursion and bird watching. We finished off the day anchored in the lee of Punta Arenas for dinner before heading to La Paz.

Captain Buzz and Team Searcher

Breaching humpback whale

 

Greetings whalewatchers:

Our day started southwest of San Lazaro on the 100-fathom curve. The day’s itinerary was to travel down the curve looking for marine mammals and sea birds. We enjoyed a good variety including humpback whales, common dolphin, and California sea lions. Then highlight of the day was encountering an adult blue whale that was very cooperative and stayed with us for just over two hours. The last hour of that was spent in the company of a fin whale within 200-300 yards of the blue whale much of the time.

A small loggerhead turtle and a variety of birds finished the list. Tomorrow’s report will be coming from the East Cape.

In the company of a blue whale

Capt Buzz and Team Searcher

Greetings whalewatchers,

Today we arrived at the bar outside San Ignacio and were greeted by numerous spouts and small surf. After crossing the bar and heading to the observation area, we saw a good number of whales. The whale count was up 50% from are previous trip. Friendly whales and singles were the order of the day. Once the passengers were off on the pangas most of the people experienced a friendly whale or two! The lagoon was calm, the sun was out and there was no shortage of whale activity. Most of the activity consisted of breaching and spy hopping. It’s “lights out” tonight and we will see what tomorrow has in store for us.

Capt. Buzz and Team Searcher

Greetings whalewatchers,

San Ignacio day #2: Last night we shut down all the engines and gazed at about a million stars and listened to the whales blowing in the dark. Today was a busy day starting with good whalewatching from Searcher. As soon as we got people in the pangas there was plenty of action including friendly whale activity. After a morning of great whales some people went birding in the mangroves and some went ashore to explore one of the many beaches. We made our exit in the late afternoon accompanied by an escort of dozens of gray whales. We’ll travel all night and spend tomorrow offshore.
Capt Buzz and Team Searcher

Greetings whalewatchers:

Searcher and all aboard enjoyed a gently rolling swell last night as we made our way down the Baja coast to San Benitos. We arrived first thing in the morning and everyone went ashore for a pleasant hike around the island. California sea lions, elephant seals, and Guadalupe fur seals were seen by the hikers as well as both sea and land birds.

While waiting on Searcher for the hikers to return to the beach for pickup, we witnessed a classic elephant seal fight between a grizzled old bull and a young upstart trying for a piece of the harem. They fought on land and fought in the water until the young one had enough. The whole thing encounter lasted less than ten minutes and the parties went their separate ways. The old bull in the picture is resting and surveying his harem.

We are now heading south to Laguna San Ignacio where we will spend the next two days.

Capt Buzz and Team Searcher

Elephant seal bull defends his harem.

Greetings whalewatchers,

We’re getting our Tour #2 with Naturetrek started. We checked into Ensenada just after daylight and we’re on our way.

A short stop at Isla Todo Santos allowed us to observe elephant seals, harbor seals, and even a peregrine falcon.
We charted a course for Islas San Benito and headed down the coast in hopes of finding whales and other sea life.

After a short search we found an area with gray whales, common dolphin and a variety of sea birds. We are really enjoying the blue skies and calm seas on our way south. Enjoyable first day on the water!

Capt Buzz and Team Searcher

Evidence of the blue skies and calm seas!

Gray whale fluking.