It appears that the crew and leaders are too busy to send an official report!
Stand-outs from yesterday afternoon: black-footed albatross, least and black storm petrels, Craveri’s murrelets. This morning brought pomarine and long-tailed jaegers, skua, giant mola, bottlenose and common dolphin. Beautiful weather! We are standing by for a mid-day report and photo…unless they remain too busy! (Attached is a Black-footed albatross taken by Tom Blackman.)
Our annual 5-day birding adventure through the southern-most ABA waters and through the Channel Islands departed today with 25 birders and 4 leaders.
Birders from across the US joined the tour, and Andrea and Neil came from Canada.
Leader Dave P reported for duty, loaded for birds!
Orientation before setting sail.
Wishing them fantastic sightings of pelagic birds and marine mammals!
One of the highlights of the 2016 Searcher Natural History Tours whalewatching season was “The Blue Whale Visit” of the March 8-19 voyage. Enjoy the following footage and relive that memorable event! Blue whale info here.
Howdy whalewatchers,
Today marked the end of our last Searcher Natural History Tours trip of the 2016 season. We had an excellent time with this group – such a great bunch – with the magic touch added by both The Travelling Naturalist leader Ian Rowlands and Searcher naturalist Rob Nawojchik. After we said our goodbyes, the group disembarked and boarded the shuttle for San Jose del Cabo. They had a few hours to explore, visiting the estuary for birdwatching or local restaurants for breakfast.
San Jose del Cabo square – photo credit: Mark Underwood
Some stayed on and extended their holiday in this laid-back Baja beach town, while the rest boarded the shuttle for the SJD airport where they started their journeys home.
We wish them safe travels and send our gratitude for a wonderful shared experience to close out a spectacular 2016 season. Already looking forward to next year!
Capt Aaron and Team Searcher
Photo credit: Osprey nest/J. Lasnier
Capt Aaron and Team Searcher
Hello whalewatchers: Today we had a wonderful visit to Isla Santa Catalina, one of the most iconic visitor sites in all of Baja California. 
Passengers spent three hours ashore exploring the arroyo at the southeast corner of the island, enjoying the bird life and amazing array of cactus, including the giant cardon.
Santa Catalina is home to the endemic rattleless rattlesnake. Few in number and cryptic in color, we often have trips where we don’t see any. Today we saw five of them, including both the brown and gray color morph. 
In addition to the snakes, we saw fantastic examples of the island’s plant, bird, and lizard life. Following the hike we had a snorkel session in the cove beneath elephant rock, where all sorts of reef fish and invertebrates were seen. Lunch was duck confit salad with fresh bread.
We’re headed south now to find even more wildlife. The wind is up a bit so wish us luck!
Capt Aaron and Team Searcher
Hello whalerwatchers: What a great morning here at Punta Colorado! We got it all started with a great sunrise on the island’s sandstone cliffs.
Then passengers went ashore to go for a desert plant and bird walk. But they also found a speckled rattlesnake, Isla San Jose whiptail lizards, in addition to the endemic gray thrasher, phainopepela, and a Costa’s hummingbird. After the walk passengers went to a nice sandy beach for a swim or snorkel with the fantastic variety of fish and invertebrates here. We’re headed north to look for wildlife this afternoon.
This afternoon, we had a beautiful ride and the sunset was great. We found just a few bottlenose dolphins and the crowd-pleasing red- billed tropicbird. Tonight’s dinner is cornish game hen with stuffing and fresh bread. Dessert is a peach cobbler. 
We’ve got our anchor down at Isla Santa Catalina so we’re ready to go ashore for a walk and a snorkel in the morning.
Capt Aaron and Team Searcher
Howdy whalewatchers,
We had a beautiful sunrise this morning, followed by the arrival of the pangas for whale shark encounters. 
Those that got in the water got to swim with whale sharks and those that stayed in the pangas got a great view of these massive creatures from the surface. The water temperature was warm with good visibility.
After heading north, we went to Isla Lobos, where there is a blue footed booby population which we observed and photographed. Shortly after leaving there we found a humpback whale that was in nice water conditions and it fluked EVERY TIME it dove! We’re headed up to Los Islotes to swim with the playful sea lions and lots of fish.
Our adventure continues – more later,
Capt Aaron and Team Searcher
