Captain's Blog

I received a phone call today with the news of loads of blue whales! They left anchor near Isla Carmen this morning and found lots of blue whales. All is well still and I am sure to get another quick call on Tuesday evening.

Hello whalewatchers: We are enjoying one of the best days watching humpback whales in a few years! You can look in any direction today and see a whale on the surface. And at one point you could see a whale breaching in any direction. We’ve witnessed all the classic behaviors almost all day including tail-lobbing, flipper-flapping, adults breaching and calves breaching. It was remarkable! Here’s a sample: http://youtu.be/oAk7QKlpD4w?list=UUtoQBhyrjFCsrxIME7FFE2w

Hello whalewatchers: We woke up to great conditions this morning! Calm seas are always welcome here. We have had lots to look at thus far today–humpback whales, common dolphins and lots of sea bird life, inlcuding black-vented shearwaters, Bonapartes and California gulls. One of the special things to see when it is this calm is sea turtles. We have seen at least 100 so far.
Today’s picture is of a humpback whale dorsal hump up-close next to the Searcher.
Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: We have had a wonderful visit in Laguna San Ignacio with great weather, lots and lots of whales, and plenty of close encounters. There are certainly a lot of mothers and calves here, and the census shows more than year’s past. Today’s picture is of a single whale close to Searcher.
Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: Our weather is great with calm conditions as we enter Laguna San Ignacio. There are plenty of whales in the entrance and even more as we travel to our anchorage in the observation zone. The latest census is 85 cows with calves and 120 single adults–lots of whales and quite a few more calves than usual.
The first panga went out and only had to travel 100 feet and they had a close encounter with a cow and calf. Wow!
The same for the next two pangas. I’m seeing lots of smiles as the pangas returned from the first trip.
Today’s photo of a tail fluke next to Searcher.
Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: We enjoyed a great day at Islas San Benito. There are plenty of northern elephant seals, with all the behaviors you would expect at this time of year–mating, males  fighting over their harems, and females nursing pups. Guadalupe fur seals were in their usual spot this trip, and ospreys as well. To go along with all the wildlife, the island is in bloom with lots of island mallow, ice plant, Agave, Encelia and the Mammilaria cactus too. We are headed south to Laguna San Ignacio, arriving after breakfast.
Today’s photo is San Benito village from Searcher.
Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: We had a very productive morning with good sightings of gray whales both north- and south-bound. We also found multiple humpbacks and some were breaching close to the boat. Then we found some common dolphin and a few Pacific white sided dolphin as we exited Ensenada harbor.
Islas Todos Santos is very green and there are still some northern elephant seals on the beach. The pups are bigger and the count was 14 animals. There were also a few harbor seals and sea lions. The brown pelican colony is thriving with hundreds of birds on the nest and in breeding plumage.
Team Searcher

Ready or not, sea lions, here come the Searcher snorkelers!