Captain's Blog

Hello whalewatchers:
We keep thinking things can’t get much better with the weather being as calm as it has for days now. And we’ve seen plenty of whales and more today.
We started at Bahia Agua Verde which is always a hit. We saw two gray whales way up here–at least 100 miles north of La Paz going south–and they both breached. Then two big blue whales and the to cap it off, a humpback that was tail thrashing and tail lobbing. And then to finish it off, the humpback breached very close multiple times.
We saw a gray whale, a blue whale and a humpback whale within 30 minutes of each other in a two-mile area. Can’t say I’ve seen that in the Sea of Cortez before.
More tomorrow,
Capt Art

Hello whalewatchers,
A midday report with everyone going ashore at Isla Santa Catalina and finding a record four rattleless rattle snakes in a tw0-hour period. Also for  bird enthusiasts, Lee Morgan and some of the group heard a Northern Pygmy Owl in the arroyo! No mistaking that birds call as we were able to compare with Lee’s bird call app on his phone.
We also had skiff rides with bottlenose dolphin and how about watching a blue whale while having cheeseburgers in paradise for lunch? I’m sure it was the same blue whale from last evening. Oh and did I mention it is still as calm as it can get in the Sea of Cortez?! We’re loving it!
Hoping for some more whales this afternoon,
Capt Art

Hello all,
Our afternoon was very productive with 7 or 8 blue whales and one was a consistent  fluker. We also saw a fin whale with a calf, common dolphin,various sharks, striped marlin and yellowtail. Lots of bird life. The weather is still calm looking forward to tomorrow.
Capt Art

Hello whalewatchers:
What an incredible day in the Sea of Cortez! It just doesn’t get any better weather wise with calm seas. The boat didn’t even move today except for forward motion. We all enjoyed a wonderful sunrise at Punta Colorado Isla San Jose, one of my favorite spots and an early walk to avoid the heat, then a quick snorkel session for those interested. Good reports of loads of fish and good visibility. (The attached sunrise photo by Steve Lamb)
We ventured off shore and saw a few bottlenose dolphin and interestingly enough a lot of manta rays –maybe a hundred or so in the same area. We drifted for a while and had 6 or 8 swimming around the boat. Also in just about every direction you could see them jumping. They were all about the same size with about a 6 foot wingspan.
We traveled north in a different area looking for sperm whales or pilot whales. We did see a dwarf sperm whale and a possible sighting of a group of beaked whales that didn’t stay on the surface long enough to get a good look.
Lots of storm petrels-both black and least.
We got close to Isla Santa Catalina and we spotted a blue whale close to the island we spent the rest of the day following it.
A wonderful sunset and we are currently anchored at Isla Santa Catalina.
Looking forward to going ashore tomorrow.
Capt Art

Dear Whalewatchers:
Today we have the weather that we dream about–sunny skies, calm seas and hot temps. We started seeing humpback whales after breakfast and close to the Gorda banks area. We bypassed a few singles and then a group of seven whales showed up. We followed them for close to an hour. We had great looks at flukes with an occasional head lunge. We tried the hydrophone on top of the bank but only heard a distant whale. We headed north and saw some breaching, We got close to one whale that breached and flipper flapped. We watched a cow and calf for a short while the calf flipper flapped. It was pretty small. It is great to see cows and calves. We tried the hydrophone again and heard some whales during lunch. All in all a great morning with humpbacks.
And then the fun began. Capt Kenny saw some orcas from the roof! There were 5 whale– 1 calf, 3 females and a yearling. The water was clear so you could see the whales under the surface and we followed them for about and hour and a half and had several close looks. It is always a treat to see such a great animal. I think it has been about 4 years since we have seen orcas on this trip. We are very lucky!
We went to Bahia los Frailes for a walk and a snorkel session. Everyone enjoyed getting a chance to stretch their legs and it was our first opportunity to get in the water. The sea surface tempurature was 73 degrees.
The forecast looks great for the next few days so we are looking forward to getting up in the Sea of Cortez tomorrow.
Capt Art

Hello whalewatchers:
We had a great day today offshore with lots of life, beginning with several miles of scattered long-beaked common dolphin, lots of shearwaters, frigates and an occasional masked boobie.
After lunch we started to see blue whales and we spent some time following one very large blue whale. We saw a few other blue whales in that zone. A little while after that we came across an area where there were six blue whales and one fin whale. So the afternoon was very productive!
In addition there were a lot of red phalaropes–hundreds of them.
A good day was had by all.
Looking forward to tomorrow around “Lands End,” Cabo San Lucas.
Capt Art

Hello whalewatchers:
Another spectacular day in Laguna San Ignacio! Plenty of close encounters with gray whales today. There were also at 3 cows with calves that visited us on the Searcher for a while, playing with the pangas behind the boat and rubbing on the anchor line. In addition to that a trip into the mangroves for a little bird watching. Also a trip to the beach for most folks that were interested. Great weather with sunny skies and light winds all day. Everyone had a great experience in the lagoon with lots of fond memories I’m sure.
Also thanks to Lee Morgan our naturalist for setting a new fashion trend in Laguna San Ignacio. It is the new fad. Check back in about a week to see the photos.
At sea tomorrow looking for other kinds of whales , birds and dolphins.
Looking forward to that.
Capt Art 

Hello whalewatchers,
We had another magical day in Laguna San Ignacio! There are still plenty of whales here. The latest census from yesterday totaled 83 cow calf pairs and 25 singles for a total of 191 total whales. Everyone had close encounters with cows and calves today. We were able to get four trips in today so everyone had ample time in the pangas.
Some great whalewatching from the Searcher as well with a cow and calf visiting us at lunchtime.
The weather was great with clear skies and light winds for most of the day.
Hoping for good weather tomorrow with more of the same activities.
Capt Art