Trip Reports

(Many thanks to February, 2018 passenger Colin Barber for the use of his beautiful osprey photo!)

Hello whalewatchers,
We arrived to Islas San Benito before daylight today. We turned off most of our lights so the night-flying auklets and murrelets weren’t disoriented. A few that came aboard so we had a chance to get a good look at these birds before sending them back on their journeys safely.
We had windy conditions today and chilly temperatures–not feeling like “Sunny Baja” yet! The group saw Northern elephant seals–mostly pups/weaners, with a few females and sub-adults returning to molt–Guadalupe fur seals, and ospreys as well,
We are now travelling south towards Laguna San Ignacio and we have seen loads of shearwaters, Cassin’s auklets, and Scripps murrelets, and a brief visit from a laysan albatross.
Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

We had a great day today with lots of wildlife sightings. We started off with about 1000 long=beaked common dolphin close to Islas Todos Santos.  We also saw multiple gray whales, most of them headed north, but one juvenile was headed south and we followed it for awhile and had a few good looks. There was another large group of common dolphins and plenty of sea birds: shearwaters, terns, black-footed albatross, fulmar, surf scoters, loons, and Cassins auklets too.

The further south we got the more wind we had, and several albatross visited us–mostly black-footed but also three laysan albatross late in the day.

We are arriving at Isla San Benito before breakfast tomorrow.

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers:

We all had a great day today starting with a good walk on Isla Santa Catalina–including finding the endemic rattleless rattlesnake! We offered a  “Crazy Coastal Cruise” and a snorkel session at this beautiful island as well.

We left the island and travelled west towards the peninsula hoping for some whales and dolphin. We were lucky again and found a single blue whale that was wonderful to watch. It dove for 10 minutes and was then on the surface for two minutes, all in the same area. We also saw a cow and calf blue whale to end this Baja-perfect day.

Laughing gull

We also found lots of bird life with elegant terns, Heermann’s gulls, brown pelicans, and a rare laughing gull.

We are having dinner on the back deck tonight with margaritas and music!

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

We had a very successful day starting with a great Baja California Sea of Cortez sunrise. Then everyone went in pangas to snorkel or observe whale sharks it was a great trip with lots of happy passengers. The weather was awesome and the visibility was clearer than normal so even the people that went to observe had great views. We left La Paz and travelled north. We came across a fin whale and the lighting was perfect to see the distinct lower right jaw. Great looks!

We ended the day at Los Islotes with a skiff ride and a snorkel session. We are headed further north tonight.

Capt Art and Team Searcher

(Many thanks to Moira Johnson for us of her dolphin photo from a previous trip!)

Hello whalewatchers,

We are enjoying great weather and great humpback whalewatching–lots of tail-lobbing as well as breaching and flipper flapping.  Even a few mothers and calves getting in on the action too! We all had plenty of opportunities to get different photos of tail flukes today.

We had a visit from some bottlenose dolphins in very clear water, and so the viewing of those dolphin on the bow was tremendous.

Red-billed tropicbird @ Rich Crossen

A red-billed tropicbird circled the boat at daylight and we’ve seen loads of Bonaparte’s gulls as well.

More later,

A tail-lobbing humpback whale entertained us this morning.

Captain Art and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

We’ve had a busy morning with loads of pelagic birds including storm petrels, boobies, frigates, Craveri’s murrelet, shearwaters, Sabine’s gulls and red phalaropes. (Click to see some Birds of Baja from our tours!)

We came across a single humpback whale that was breaching and pectoral “flipper flapping” repeatedly. We spent over an hour watching this great performance by a humpback whale.

More later,

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

We had a busy afternoon with another session with a humpback whale that was breaching and tail-lobbing. It was another great performance. (Notice the all white underside of the fluke on this whale.)
We were lucky to come across two very large herds of common dolphin with several thousand dolphins,  along with frigatebirds, shearwaters, gulls and a few boobies. The first group of dolphins had a large group of sea lions with them. It is always great to spend time with dolphins.

The weather was pretty good throughout the day with a little breeze this afternoon.

Headed over night to the Cabo San Lucas and Gorda Banks areas for tomorrow.

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

What a wonderful day in Laguna San Ignacio! Great weather with a little breeze after breakfast, but that didn’t last long. Passengers enjoyed a trip to the mangroves for birding and an early whale watch. Everyone had a close encounter with a gray whale today, including those of us aboard the Searcher! A mother and calf spent most of the day close to the boat. Today’s photo is that cow and calf by the stern and a panga full of people enjoying the view.
A group went to the beach for a walk on the last trip of the day and a a final whale watch for the rest of the group.  Just a wondeful stay in Laguna San Ignacio.
Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

We all had a great day in Laguna San Ignacio with plenty of gray whales and good weather. Everyone had a close encounter with a gray whales this morning, and good whalewatching this afternoon. There has been some good whalewatching from Searcher all day too. Some people are taking advantage of the good lighting this afternoon before dinner.
Looking forward to tomorrow with a trip to the mangroves to start the day, and then “whales whales whales“ for the rest of the day.

Captain Art and Team Searcher 

Hello whalewatchers,

We had to delay our arrival to San Benito this morning because we were interrupted by fin whales feeding on the surface! We spent an hour viewing the second largest whale and were rewarded with some good looks.

While we were waiting for the fin whales to surface a group of three Cuvier’s beaked whales came up close to the boat so there was a second chance for a good photo! It is uncommon to see these whales at all, but two days in a row?
The weather is great with cool temperatures and clear skies.

A nice calm ocean and a bit of a fin whale back!

More later,
Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

Passengers enjoyed a good day ashore at Isla San Benito with plenty of elephant seals, a few Guadalupe fur seals, ospreys on their nests and great weather. The camp is quiet with just the guards watching the seafood resources. The lobster and abalone season is over.

We came across three humpback whales and a good-size group of long-beaked common dolphin before dinner. We have calm seas so the weather is great for traveling south to Laguna San Ignacio.

We have seen three species of dolphin, three species of baleen whales and a rare sightings of Cuvier’s beaked whales. A great start to our trip so far!

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers:

Pacific white-sided dolphins

Our Tour #4, co-sponsored by Naturetrek, departed San Diego and smoothly navigated Mexican Customs and Immigration in Ensenada. We travelled out to Islas Todos Santos and spent some time with a group of pacific white-sided dolphins.

We travelled south and found our first gray whales— a trio headed north. We also saw a small group of short-beaked common dolphin, and lots of seabirds: black-vented shearwaters, northern fulmars, both light and dark phase.

We’ve had some overcast skies and rain today, so we are hoping for a change this afternoon.

Team Searcher

We didn’t see much this afternoon with the exception of a rare sighting of five Cuvier’s beaked whales! They were at the surface multiple times and within a 100 yards of the boat. This is a very rare sighting, and so it was the highlight of the day.
We’re travelling overnight and will arrive at Islas San Benito after breakfast tomorrow.

Team Searcher