Trip Reports

Hello whalewatchers:

Humpback whale flukes off Searcher’s bow

What a productive morning so far offshore Bahia Magdalena! We’ve seen 25-30 humpbacks, bottlenose dolphins, masked and brown boobies, sea turtles, shearwaters, frigatebirds and gulls. There has been plenty to keep us busy today.

The weather is awesome with light winds, no swell and sunny skies.

More later, Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello again,

We had a great afternoon. Our beautiful weather continues and we’ve seen loads of sea turtles. We came across a sea turtle that had a white plastic bag wrapped around it. We positioned the boat to get the bag off with a gaff, but that wasn’t working. Capt Mike jumped over the side and as the turtle started to surface, he dove down to release the bag.

Abundant sea turtles offshore Bahia Magdalena

The turtle was startled and sped up away from Mike, and the bag came off the turtle.  Mike got a gaff and dove down and snagged the bag. So Mike got the “Hero Award” today for saving the turtle and retrieving the bag. Way to go, Capt Mike!

Our day ended with a gorgeous sunset.

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

It’s another great day in Laguna San Ignacio!! We starting with a gray whale visiting us before we went out in the pangas. It was very interested in the pangas! This panga is tied up to the boarding ladder and we are in the process of loading passengers.

The weather is great with very little wind and overcast skies. The sun is just coming out now.

We all enjoyed “generators off/lights out” last night so we could view stars in the clear skies and listen to whales spouting.

Afternoon update:

We had great afternoon today with loads of whales close by the boat. The lagoon was calm all day. Everyone had lots of panga time, with a trip to the beach for those that wished. Lots of fun was had by all during our stay in Laguna San Ignacio.
As we exited the lagoon, the whalewatching was phenomenal with lots of whales out towards the entrance.

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

We arrived to Laguna San Ignacio this morning and saw multiple gray whaler after daylight outside the lagoon. There are loads of whales at the entrance and inside as well. The census on 5 February was 149 whales: 111 singles and 19 mother/calf pairs.

The weather is tremendous with no wind and sunny skies. There have been a few close encounters this morning and I’m sure the group is having fun.

There has also been great whalewatching from Searcher all morning while we are at anchor.

More later, Capt Art and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

We had a beautiful day at Isla San Benitio! There was a nice cool breeze, sunny skies and a perfect day for a walk.

Small fishing village at the landing cove

As you enter the cove to go ashore there is a osprey on the nest and some male northern elephant seals on the beach. The camp is busy with fishermen diving for abalone and harvesting red algae. Walkers reported plenty of action on the elephant seal beaches and a Guadalupe fur seal (click the link to read about these fascinating seals).

Everyone had a great day and we are now headed to Laguna San Ignacio, but first there are dolphins on our bow right now!

Capt Art and Team Searcher

 

Hello whalewatchers:

We had a nice ride down to Ensenada last night, and after clearing customs, we traveled out to Islas Todo Santos to look at pelicans, gulls and cormorants. And we found a pair of peregrine falcons on the highest peak of South Island.

There were 13 female northern elephant seals with pups on the beach and one large male. A few harbor seals and sea lions were hauled out.

Traveling south we have seen about 20 gray whales, some southbound and some northbound. Here is a photo of a distinctive “heart-shaped” gray whale spout off the bow. Note the calm seas and sunny skies, which we are enjoying!

More later,

Capt Art and Team Searcher

Orcas are an uncommon sighting for our tours in the Sea of Cortez and this group got to see them TWICE! A group of 6 animals, including a mother/calf pair, visited the boat on 31 Jan and again on 2 Feb. It looks like our passengers are taking home some wonderful photos!

Howdy whalewatchers:

Northern cardinal in Baja

We had a great morning ashore at Santa Catalina Island with a nice walk up the arroyo for viewing giant cardon cactus, Northern cardinals, Gila woodpeckers, black-throated sparrows, and white winged doves. (Click here for a review of the Birds of Baja.)

Afterwards there was a snorkel and a skiff ride along the coast of the island where there were some bottlenose dolphins interacting with the skiffs.

Distant view of orcas in Sea of Cortez

The weather is calm and we’re headed toward a small pod of killer whales to start our afternoon whalewatching.

This afternoon we had an incredible look at killer whales! They came over to the boat and swam around under and all around the boat, swimming upside down even.

We are now anchored up for the night at Punta Colorado at Isla San Jose where we will be going ashore and going for a another nice snorkel.
Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers,

This morning we went ashore Isla San Francisco for an exploration walk and returned to go in the water for a snorkel. The swimmers had really good visibility and saw lots of garden eels, sergeant majors, giant damselfish and cornetfish, just to name a few.

We’re having lunch while on the anchor and moving up further into Sea of Cortez this afternoon.

Our on-board experts in Ocean Plastics: Jo Ruxton and Bonnie Monteleone.

Howdy “blue whale lovers,”

We are enjoying a nice break from some windy weather and saw our first blue whale!

We’re off to our next destination for tomorrow and hoping to capitalize on the calm seas in our future.
Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers,

Even more humpback whales to observe today! We got to see the things that humpbacks do breaching, flipper flapping, and tail lobbing.

Flipper flapping!

The weather was nice this morning, but the wind has come up so we’re headed to Los Frailes to go for a beach walk and the first snorkel of our trip.

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher