Captain's Blog

Hello whalewatchers: We started early today and the weather and whales are cooperating! Everyone has had a close encounter with a gray whale cow and calf, as you can see in my snapshot. What a magical place this is. We are a little sad because today is our last day of the 2013 season in this special place. Hard to believe we are on trip #6 already. Laguna San Ignacio has been great to us this season. And it’s been another great year working with our friends here in the cooperative, Ecoturismo Kuyima. More later, Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: We had another great day in Laguna San Ignacio with clear skies and light winds for most of the day. Everyone had a close encounter with a gray whale today. There is still a good amount of whales here .. The census three days ago counted 53 cow/calf pairs and five single whales. The calves are definatley bigger this trip. Looking forward to tomorrow. David Cohen and Jim Graham say the gray whale watching was so good they had to have a beer when they returned to Searcher.
We will turn the generator off and look at the stars tonight. Very clear skies today so we should be able to see alot.
More tomorrow, Team Searcher

Dear friends: I will be receiving a full report Thursday morning, but all is well aboard Searcher! They had a wonderful day ashore at Isla San Benito west. Their walk took them to some crowded elephant seal coves as many seals had returned to the island to molt. They found a cove of Guadalupe fur seals (photo by Chris Shields) as well.

Back aboard, they travelled south and found both a fin and a blue whale, and a long seabird list. I hope to post more details tomorrow.

And our dear birthday girl, Sabby, had a nice round of “Happy Birthday” after dinner!

(We are sorry for the delay in a report. We have a little computer issue on the boat. We’ll try to transfer reports via phone!)

The trip is well underway and there was a terrific seabirding day yesterday, as it was an entire day at sea. There was a stop at Islas Todos Santos to observe harbor seals, elephant seals, and some nesting birds. They also spotted two humpback whales and a large sunfish. However, the ocean has a large swell right now, so the viewing conditions weren’t ideal. That swell is diminishing and conditions will improve. This morning (Wednesday), they will be anchoring at an island for a wonderful walk around a remote island with wildlife, including elephant seal weaners (photo by Rob Nawojchik).

Howdy whalewatchers, We enjoyed another beautiful day on the Sea of Cortez with calm seas and no wind. After our morning walk and snorkel at Agua Verde, we left and found another large group of common dolphin with two humpbacks with them. A humpback breached right in front of the boat! After that we headed south and the mammal life was slow, but we saw lots of manta rays and striped marlin. And to finish the day we had a really good look at two red-billed tropicbirds. We had our back-deck BBQ dinner too!
Good whalewatching and observing nature as it comes to you,
Capt Aaron and Searcher crew

Howdy whalewatchers, It was another wonderful day on the Sea of Cortez. We started with a walk on Isla Santa Catalina and then a short skiff ride off the island to get splashed by common dolphin who were feeding on bait fish hiding under the skiffs! Birds were also getting in on the program. After lunch we headed west in look of more wildlife and today was the day of the dolphin. Our first group of bottlenose dolphins (about 100) put on an excellent show, jumping off the bow and in our wake. The second group was a bit smaller but did the same show–jumping and putting on a great show of acrobatics. We didn’t see a large whale today. but we’re gonna try again tomorrow after our morning walk and snorkel at Bahia Agua Verde.
Good whalewatching and observing nature as it comes your way, Capt Aaron and Searcher crew