New census from Laguna San Ignacio
On 13 February, a total of 347 gray whales were counted. That is 134 cow/calf pairs and 79 singles!
Tour #2
A boat-load of eco-tourists left last night on our second 2015 tour, southbound like the migrating gray whales!
January 28 census in Laguna San Ignacio
Lots of gray whales! They’ve counted 233 gray whales: 91 calves and 142 adults.
Space available on 2015 tour!
Don’t miss this incredible whalewatch season in Baja! The March 24-April 4, 2015 tour has three spots open at this time. Contact us for more details.
Neighborhood Book/Gift Shop has Baja resources!
Passengers preparing for our Baja tours may wish to spend some time at Seabreeze Books and Charts. It’s a short walk from the landing and full of materials for your tour! Open the link for a few suggestions: Resources from Seabreeze
First census of 2015 at Laguna San Ignacio
On 13 January, 114 gray whales were counted: 34 calves and 80 adults. Big numbers!
Whale’s blow
Whales breathe air and when their warmed lung air hits the cooler air above the ocean, a fine mist/vapor is created. So their “blow” or “spout” is not water, though some droplets may be present on the top of the closed blowhole and get sprayed as well. Here’s a great photo by Carla Mitroff, an Orange County whalewatcher and nature photographer, showing the characteristic “heart-shaped” blow of a gray whale as seen on a calm day and viewed from behind the whale.
January 7 census report
Good southern California weather recently makes it possible to even watch our coastal migrating gray whales from the beach or high cliffs. We are ready to meet up with them in Laguna San Ignacio!
GRAY WHALE CENSUS UPDATE, Pt. Vicente: 7 January 2015. Our biggest day this season: 44 southbound, including a cow/calf pair! A pod of TEN GRAY WHALES came within a half mile of shore, followed by a pod of TWELVE whales that showed up while we were watching the ten whales, and came in even closer to shore! The second sighting moved slowly, taking almost two hours to pass by us. We heard blows on both sightings, and saw a bubble blast during one sighting and rolling in the other. Our cow/calf pair came by early in the morning, and passed fairly close to shore. COMMON DOLPHIN swam all around one whale. A pod of five whales were pretty close together when we first found them; then they started to split apart, making us constantly struggle to verify that we did not double-count our whales. One pod of whales produced two BREACHES – five miles away from us. Whales in sixteen of eighteen sightings fluked. A few were frequent flukers; one whale was missing part of its left fluke. At least three HUMPBACK WHALES milled in our viewing area. We also spotted COMMON DOLPHIN, BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN, and PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN. -Alisa
Southbound grays —–44
Northbound grays——- 0
Total grays ————- 44
Cow/calves South——–1
Total grays (since 1 Dec): *587 southbound, 2 northbound
Happy New (Gray Whale) Year!
Our colleagues in Laguna San Ignacio report seeing 18-20 adult gray whales in the last few days. In addition, they’ve seen about 4-5 of those whales with a calf! There has also been some early friendly behavior as well. We can’t wait to bring our lucky passengers down south!
NEW book about gray whales!
And signed copies will be for sale aboard Searcher….E. robustus: The Biology and Human History of Gray Whales by Searcher friend and colleague, Dr James Sumich.
