Captain's Blog

Howdy whalewatchers,

For our final day we spent the morning at Isla San Francisco where passengers did a beach and shore walk, and then had a snorkel or swim in the nice calm bay. Cortez garden eels were the favorite underwater creature here, along with lots of fish.

We encountered a wonderful blue whale mother and calf pair, and a fin whale this afternoon, so we are happy with our day’s whalewatching.

We’re headed towards Cabo San Lucas for a morning arrival and tour’s end. Many thanks to Naturetrek and all our passengers!

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers:

Yesterday we had a good weather day and we spent it swimming with whale sharks in La Paz. We headed up to Los Islotes to get another snorkel in with sea lions this time!

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers:

What a picture-perfect sunrise and wonderful weather this morning at Santa Catalina Island! The group went ashore  and had a great walk among the giant cardón cactus (click the link for a Spotlight on cardón) and other island life. (Thanks to Paul Jones for his cardón photo.) 

After the walk passengers either went for a snorkel in perfect conditions, or went on a “Coastal Cruise” along the island. We’re headed off to find some more wildlife wish us luck.

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers,

We had a nice morning today around Gorda Banks offshore Cabo San Lucas. We spent our time with humpback whales, including a group of five whales swimming around the boat with us. It was a spectacular encounter!

We also saw a herd of common dolphins this morning, which are crowd-pleasers. (Grateful to Rob Nawojchik for the photo.)

We’re headed to Bahia Los Frailes on the peninsula to have a beach walk and bird watch, and then do a snorkel in that same area for the afternoon.

Howdy whalewatchers,

Despite the wind this morning we were able to get ashore and get some really good birding in around a new spot for birding. The finishing highlight was a crested caracara on the beach! After that we did another snorkel and enjoyed the underwater life.

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers:

We have some unusual rain this morning, but we were able to find some whales and birds to view. We started off with a red-footed, brown and masked booby early, then off to a 4-pack of humpback whales that were very entertaining– fluking for us on every dive!

After that we saw a blue whale that was also fluking on occasion. We’re rolling south to see what the afternoon brings us.

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers:

We  had a good afternoon looking at humpback whales breaching, tail lobbing and flipper flapping, and we motored off with some bottlenose dolphin off into the sunset.

We’re heading south and will have one of our first days in the Sea of Cortez tomorrow, looking for wildlife.

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers,

The weather has been fantastic for us this morning, and the whales were all around. We’re hoping to get some more great whalewatching in this afternoon.

photo by Nigel Carter

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers,

We’re headed south after leaving the lagoon. We had great weather all day and whales were all around. Some passengers went ashore for a beach walk on a pristine stretch of white sand, shells, and much more.

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers,

We offered two trips in pangas (Mexican skiffs) this morning and they were a great success! Passengers were able to closely observe, photograph and interact with gray whales. The weather is fine and we’re hoping it stays that way for for the afternoon runs.

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers,

Even though we had some wind this afternoon, we were able to get a trip out this afternoon for some whalewatching. Passengers that went out had some contact with a gray whale.

Then we had a larger single gray whale hang out with us next to the boat all the way until dark. For many, that was a highlight.

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers!

Today we spent the day at West San Benito island. The visibility was great and so passengers could see for many miles from the walking trails and the historic lighthouse that the island is famous for.

Rob Nawojchik guides Searcher passengers around the elephant seal haul-out areas on scenic Isla San Benito.

As for wildlife, there were Guadalupe fur seals and elephant seals to observe. There are still a few male elephant seals, along with the mothers and pups, on the island.

We’re headed south to be in Laguna San Ignacio for the next two days.

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers:

We departed a chilly San Diego and headed south to Baja California, Mexico.

Our first morning we spent a little time at Islas Todos Santos where we saw black oystercatchers, brown pelicans, double-crested cormorants, blue-wing teal and peregrine falcon. After we left the island we headed south in windy conditions. But with wind brings the soaring pelagic birds! We have seen Laysan and black-footed albatross, many different phases of Northern fulmars, Cassin’s auklets, and black-vented and pink-footed shearwaters.

Breaching gray whale and Searcher @ Grant Serpell

We have also seen a couple of northbound gray whales. Researchers have sent us a census of gray whales in Laguna San Ignacio for February 21: 157 singles, 21 mothers & calves for a total of 199 whales.

We are headed now for Isla San Benito!

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

Our final day started with a great sunrise, then passengers enjoyed a walk on this great little island with a good view from the ridge. There is also a beautiful sandy beach and clear water, so a final snorkel session was available. We then headed south looking for whales. And then anchored up for our final dinner. Chef Charley and Dan prepared yellowfin tuna with a red pepper coulis sauce that everyone raved about.

We had our trip’s end briefing and reflected on the last 11 days and all the great things we witnessed.

Everyone had lots of compliments on our great naturalists Paul Jones and Marc Webber! It is always great to have them aboard.

Capt Art and Team Searcher