Trip Reports

Hello all,

We started our day in Ensenada harbor and then out to Isla Todos Santos for some wildlife viewing.  The island is very green with spots of yellow from the blooming daisies. We encountered some common dolphin on the way out to the island. There were plenty of harbor seals on the beach and in the water, with a few elephant seals hauled out as well.

Harbor Seal by Rob Nawojchik

We had great looks at black oystercatchers, peregrine falcon and brown pelicans on the nest and in breeding plumag on and around the island.

We traveled south and were lucky to get our first whale of the trip. It was a blue whale and it turns out there were two whales in the area. They were down for 15 minutes each which made it difficult to keep track of them, but we did manage to get some good looks. A little further south we came across a herd of common dolphins. Not a bad start to the trip! Searcher naturalist Andrea Dransfield and Chris Breen (from The Traveling Naturalist) are keeping everyone engaged and informed.

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Trip #5 with happy eco-tourists from The Travelling Naturalist boarded Searcher under sunny San Diego skies. Our guide Andrea Dransfield briefed them all about  their Baja whalewatching adventure. Traditions were honored and Chris Breen (owner, The Travelling Naturalist) poured the bubbly to toast departure.

For a link to their 2020 tours aboard Searcher, click here: Great Whales of Mexico’s Pacific Coast

Hello whalewatchers,

What a tremendous day! We started with a great sunrise, traveled from our anchorage at Isla Espiritu Santo to the Whale Shark reserve. The pangas showed up on time and everyone headed out to snorkel and observe Whale Shark. The group came back very happy!

We headed north and came a cross a blue whale in 120 feet of water. It surfaced twice each time it came to the surface and then fluked. Since it was so shallow it didn’t dive very deep and came back up every 5-6 minutes. A fun blue whale to watch and photograph.After that we came across a group of jumping smooth-tailed mobulas. This is something we look for on every trip and this is the first trip we have found them. They are fun to watch. Next was a group of bottlenose dolphins that performed for us in clean water.

Chefs Dan and Roger dazzled everyone with tri-tip dinner and cheesecake desert. It was a terrific end to a great trip!

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

We had a great morning at Isla Santa Catalina where we offered an early morning hike and then a snorkel session when snorkelers enjoyed great visibility. The seas are calm so we are looking forward to some great whalewatching this afternoon.

Afternoon update: We saw a big group of bottlenose dolphins who seemed to be doing some foraging and feeding. There was a request to see a red-billed tropicbird so the crew on the roof produced five of them!

We saw a spout in the distance close to the peninsula and when we arrived in the area, there was a pair of fin whales. We followed them for and hour and had great looks with perfect lighting to see the lower right jaw that is white. A sea turtle was next, and then throughout the afternoon we saw lots of big mobula rays. When they jump they do back flips, and so if you catch one in the air it is a great sight. We saw a single humpback that fluked multiple times, and then we ended the day with bottlenose dolphin and a great sunset.

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers:

Everyone enjoyed a great day starting with a nice visit at Isla San Francisco. We offered a nice walk on shore and a good snorkel session. We had lunch at anchor and then traveled north in the San Jose channel looking for whales and wildlife. Capt Mike saw a single spout a long way away and when we reached the area, there was a blue whale on the surface! It stayed on the surface for quite a long time so we had good opportunities to photograph it. Then another blue whale surfaced not too far away, The two whales joined each other and they showed their flukes, so it made the afternoon pretty special. We spent almost two hours following these whales; it was awesome. Here is a photo of the fluke close to the bow

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

Our mid-morning report from offshore Bahia Magdalena: two blue whales surfacing together and staying close which made the pair easy to follow have super looks. More later.

Evening update:

We continued south after spending time with a pair of blue whales. Outside the entrance to Bahia Magdalena, we came across a group of five humpback whales traveling northwest. We had great looks of these whales for over an hour and saw fluking, waving pectoral flippers spouts and interactions between the whales. The lighting was great so we were able to see the whales easily under the surface prior to surfacing. Everyone enjoyed the humpbacks!

We continued on and found two more blue whales. The conditions improved with time and we spent some time with another blue whale for a total of four blue whales today. Photos of blue whale blow and humpbacks off the bow with a pectoral flipper in the air.

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

We started the day with two whalewatching trips to visit with the gray whales. We have windy conditions, but not enough to stop our activities. Everyone returned with happy faces after some close encounters with the whales.

After lunch a group went to the beach for a walk and a look at the dead whale carcass. Another panga went out whalewatching. The final trip was to the mangroves for everyone and the birding was excellent.We are leaving Laguna San Ignacio this afternoon and heading south to watch for wildlife offshore Bahia Magdalena tomorrow. We’re enjoying a really nice sunset tonight as well.

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

Our first day in Laguna San Ignacio was a whalewatching success! Our passengers enjoyed encounters with gray whales, good weather and so we have lots of happy whalewatchers aboard. (Our photo is from Chris Earley’s last trip with us. He’s returned with a group from Worldwide Quest in Canada. Also pictured is Marc Webber who is Searcher’s guide this trip.)

Bottlenose dolphins

We’ve also seen lots of bottlenose dolphins this trip. There is a good amount of bait fish in the lagoon this year and so the bottlenose dolphins are finding plentiful food. Tonight we we will turn the generators off for some silence, look at some stars and listen to the sounds of the lagoon.

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

We had a great day at Isla San Benito today! Female elephant seals are returning to the island to molt and there are still plenty of this year’s pups on the beaches. (Photo thanks to Chris Earley.) They had good views of Guadalupe fur seals and ospreys on the nest and taking care of eggs and young.

Large blow from a surfacing blue whale.

After we departed Isla San Benito and on our way south, we were extremely lucky to find a blue whale. We spent some time oobseerving this whale since it is our first sighting.  We are travelling to Laguna San Ignacio, arriving after breakfast tomorrow. While underway, we saw a laysan albatross this afternoon. Yesterday, we saw a black-footed albatross and both birds are lifers for David Brewer who has joined us from Canada!

Captain Art and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

We started our trip by visting Islas Todos Santos for a look at elephant seals and harbor seals with pups both on the beach and in the water around the island. The island’s flowers are in full bloom and the island is very green.

American oystercatchers @ Chris Earley

The island’s bird sightings included oystercatchers and our usual peregrine falcon. After leaving the island, we found a group of four northbound gray whales. They stayed very close to the surface and everyone enjoyed really great looks at our first whales. Late this afternoon we watched a few black-footed albatross and lots of other birdlife. Just a few common dolphin came by to visit. We’ll hope for more as we have more travel time.

Captain Art and Team Searcher