Trip Reports

Hello whalewatchers: We had a wonderful day today in Laguna San Ignacio. We were able to offer a birding and wildlife excursion into the mangroves to start the day. Then we had a quick break and snack, then passengers were back out for whalewatch trips before and after lunch. The final trip was an optional whalewatch or a walk on the lovely and pristine beach.  It was glorious on the beach with light winds and sunny skies.

The whalewatchers also had a great excursion. They had a close encounter with a mother and calf pair. It was a great way to end a great day!

Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers,

We arrived in Laguna San Ignacio this morning after breakfast. The wind was up but subsided enough to go whalewatching among the gray whales. Everyone enjoyed the first trip and after a quick break, they went out again for their second trip of the morning. The weather continued to improve and we enjoyed some ideal conditions for our time here. We were able to put the shade canopy up!

Long-time colleagues and friends, Josele of Kuyima and Capt Art, enjoy the shade on our back deck, while the passengers are enjoying the gray whales!

There are a lot of whales here! We’ve seen some mating groups and some curious mom/calf pairs. We hope to get the recent census numbers today. Passengers witnessed lots of breaching whales too.

Lunch was Baja-fresh tuna sandwiches with tomato bisque soup. Yummy!

Team Searcher

 

Afternoon update:
We had a tremendous day with great weather and lots of whales. Our panga drivers did a great job today–Frederico, Choppie and Ramiro–with their comfortable big “Cadillac” pangas with plenty of room for all.

Choppie is pictured in the foreground and a grey whale coming to the surface in the background. We had great whale watching from  Searcher today as well.

We plan to turn off the generators off tonight for quiet time to listen to the whales and stargaze.

Team Searcher

Hello all,

A great day at Isla San Benito! Sunny skies and warm weather provided optimal conditions for a hike. Along the way we saw a variety of creatures, including a number of northern elephant seals, both nursing and recently weaned pups (aka weaners) stayed behind on the beach while the females head offshore to feed. We also sighted osprey on the nests, falcons and horned larks. Though we typically see fur seals around the island, there weren’t any sightings in the usual spot today.
The island has had some rain recently allowing for many plants on the island to bloom. Blue dicks, island mallow, ice plant and cliff spurge made the island extra inviting and fun to explore. Here’s a photo of the very pretty island mallow in bloom.

Headed south tonight! Will be visiting Laguna San Ignacio after breakfast.
Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers:

Passengers gathered in San Diego yesterday and boarded Searcher for a day to relax, bird, sight-see, or just get to know fellow passengers. We departed last night around 9:30 p.m.

We cleared into Mexican Immigration this morning in Ensenada harbor and all went well. We then made the crossing over to Islas Todos Santos in choppy conditions. We have some strong NW wind and large swells from a recent front that passed through the area.

At the island, we looked at northern elephant seals, harbor seals, peregrine falcons, cormorants, brown pelicans and black oystercatchers.  We traveled south under sunny skies and had one large group of common dolphins visit for a while. Then as the morning progressed, we noticed that hundreds of Bonaparte gulls have shown up. This small gull is very pretty, and last trip we saw only 3 or 4 birds.

But the highlight came in the afternoon with great viewing of albatrosses! We saw both black-footed and layson albatrosses, and multiples of each. Some of the birds came very close to the boat so if you wanted a photo or just a good look, it was possible today.

Black-footed Albatross @ Tom Blackman

Laysan Albatross @ Tom Blackman

Team Searcher

Hello all,

A great day today! Started with a walk and snorkel at Isla Santa Catalina, and a Krazy Koastal Krruise with Kapt Kenny. The island is in good shape with some growth happening since last year. The cactus are budding and should be blooming in the coming weeks.

Next, we’re headed to the coast to drop the anchor for dinner. Back deck buffet tonight with “margaritas”.

Team Searcher

Hello all,

A wonderful sunrise at Punta Colorado this morning. One of our favorite places to visit in the Sea of Cortez. The weather couldn’t be better, looking forward to the day ahead.

Afternoon update:
We started our day at Punta Colorado on Isla San Jose, one of our favorite spots in Baja, for a sunrise and reflection of the red cliffs, a walk on the island and a snorkel session–all before lunch!

We traveled north into the San Jose channel in search of wildlife. We came across a widespread area of seabirds feeding on bait fish. The area covered at least 3-4 miles of birds feeding in various spots. It was very encouraging to see all the life. It didn’t take long before we saw a whale! It was a big blue whale heading south in the channel. We followed it for over an hour with great looks.

Yes, there’s a blue whale in this photo! Showing how “blue” they really are. We’re sure our on-board nature photographers got some great shots!

We headed north to anchor at Isla Santa Catalina for the night so we are poised to go ashore and snorkel early tomorrow morning and enjoy another magical place in Baja!

We had a great day, topped off by a delicious dinner of fresh yellowfin tuna with a salsa verde, and a vegetable quinoa side. Thank you chefs Charley and Dan!
Team Searcher

 

Happy Valentines Day!

We started the day with an excursion in pangas (small boats) from La Paz to view whale sharks. We had 16 snorkelers and four photographers make the trip. It was a big success with good views of multiple whale sharks. Everyone was extremely happy with the excursion this morning! Researchers at Whale Shark Mexico are actively studying this group of sharks through photo-identifying individuals and protecting the sharks from boat traffic.

While passengers were snorkeling with the sharks,  the crew and I decorated the galley for Valentines Day and provided a place for people to make a Valentine for their special person. There was lots of candy too!

We departed La Paz and headed north towards Isla Espiritu Santo. We found a single humpback whale and spent a little time watching as it fluked before diving. This whale also breached right off the bow!

We ended the day at Los Islotes this afternoon. Everyone went for a skiff ride to view the blue-footed boobies, frigatebirds and sea lions.

After the skiff ride there was a snorkel option. Los Islotes is the spot to swim with sea lions and it is one of the premier places in Baja for reef fish. Everyone enjoyed the snorkel and the whole day!
More tomorrow from the Isla San Jose area.

Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: We arrived at Gorda Banks this morning and saw several humpback whales. We followed a group of five whales for an hour and had great views of flukes and blowholes as the whales surfaced frequently. We saw a few breaches in the distance from more whales in the area. We stopped and tried the hydrophone but didn’t hear a whale vocalizing this time.

Whalewatching at Gorda Banks (humpback whale blow)

We also had a great sighting of a red-billed tropicbird on the water. They are crowd-pleasers!

After a great morning watching humpbacks we traveled northeast along the tip of the Baja peninsula to Bahia Los Frailes. Everyone went ashore for a nice walk for some bird watching and a walk on a beautiful sandy beach. Afterwards those who wanted to snorkel went into 72-degree water. This was a good preparation for a possible encounter with whale sharks (Click the link for the full story) tomorrow!

The beach at Los Frailes

While we were having dinner at anchor at Los Frailes, we turned on our new LED lights from the top of the wheelhouse. We attracted some krill and then a school of smooth-tailed mobula rays came by to feed! It was a nice bonus to end the day.

Mobulas came to the boat to feed under the lights.

Team Searcher