Tours

Library is ready for whalewatchers.

We are pleased to be hosting Jo Ruxton (director, A Plastic Ocean) and Bonnie Monteleone (executive director at Plastic Ocean Project), both experts in the field of plastics in the ocean and education, as special guests for this tour.

Stay tuned to this space for all the wildlife highlights and photos sent in by the crew.

Pink-footed shearwater ©Tom Blackman

Target birding areas include deep-water canyons, underwater seamounts, and around islands of the southern California bight. From San Diego, you’ll travel north over the 9 Mile Bank, through the Channel Islands, and past Point Conception to Arguello Canyon, Rodriguez Dome, San Juan Seamount and wherever the seabirds lead us.

Sperm whale surfacing ©Rob Nawojchik

There’s lots of sea time for searching out rarities, chumming, and observing a variety of marine life during the four days at sea. Sperm whales and other deep-water whales, blue, fin, and humpback whales; a variety of dolphins; and sharks are commonly spotted.

Check out last year’s sightings list here: 2015 Pelagic Birding Tour Sightings

And click here to get a spot now before it’s sold out! 2017 Pelagic Birding Tour

2016 was full of surprises for our Baja Whalewatching adventurers, including one that most of our tour guests shared in common! (Many thanks to Lee Morgan for use of his beautiful cover photo.)

Following a day of birding, snorkeling, and beachcombing at Los Frailes, passengers received a delightful announcement: they would be experiencing a Whale Shark Encounter in Bahía La Paz the following day as part of Searcher‘s pilot program to include this new opportunity on our 12-day itinerary.

Searcher Natural History Tours contracted with local, licensed tour operators and guides to provide this unique experience to our passengers.  A comfortable, shaded panga boat would arrive the following morning to collect groups of snorkelers and observers for an expertly piloted tour of the emerald waters near the entrance of La Paz bay in search of the biggest fish on the planet!  Snorkelers would be permitted to actually swim alongside these massive, awe-inspiring creatures within the Whale Shark Reserve’s guidelines (six swimmers at a time, maintaining a distance away from the shark, and no touching).  Those who chose to remain on the boat were treated to multiple up-close opportunities to observe and photograph the whale sharks as they swam and fed in the clear, warm, and plankton-rich waters.

Having a close encounter with a whale shark was an unexpected and unique event, which was added to passengers’ many highlights of their Searcher Natural History Tours’ Baja Whalewatching adventure.  Our plan is to make this resoundingly popular experience available as an option for 2017 tours, weather permitting. We will keep you informed as details become available!  In the meantime, please enjoy the photos and imagine what it would be like to swim alongside a 25-foot long fish….