Trip Reports

Howdy whalewatchers,

It’s been a great morning here on the water.  The day started with some bow-riding long-beaked common dolphin and then we saw a couple of blue whales – one fluked for us and got the tail way up in the air for some great photos.  (Click the link for some great photos and details about blue whales!) We have also have seen some sea turtles and Magnificent frigatebirds,  Brown boobies and some Sabine’s Gulls.

Sabine’s Gull © Lehman

We are headed south to look for some more wildlife.

(evening report follows)

Howdy whalewatchers,

It was a slower afternoon for whalewatching,  but really good for watching birds and common dolphin.  Sightings of Cook’s petrels were abundant with lots of Black-vented shearwaters and Magnificent frigatebirds, too.

We are headed south to begin our part of the trip in the Sea of Cortez.  Here’s a shot of some fun folks caught enjoying some wine at sunset 🙂

More tomorrow,

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: Today the passengers enjoyed a walk around West San Benitos Island, led by Searcher naturalist Rob Nawojchik, and The Travelling Naturalist leader, Ian Rowlands. Many elephant seals were seen, including recently weaned pups and older juveniles that have returned to the island to molt. Everyone was thrilled to see the endangered Guadalupe fur seals too. Birders were excited to see a variety of species including several pairs of oprey, peregrine falcons, and horned larks. We’re headed south to San Ignacio Lagoon and we’ll be there after breakfast.

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers,

We had some rain and overcast conditions to begin our day, but that didn’t phase us.  We’re up to 7 blue whales this morning! We have also seen a flipper flapping, breaching humpback as well as both long- and short-beaked common dolphin.  Oh, and also a north bound gray whale!  We have observed lots of pink-footed shearwaters and a Laysan albatross too. So… that’s our morning here. We’re currently waiting on our second fluking blue whale to surface.  What a great start to our day.

@ Lehman

More later,
Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Sightings improved even more this afternoon with a total of 12 blue whales sighted. And even more common dolphins throughout the entire day. A Bryde’s whale appeared for a few breaths. As for the birds, we added black-footed albatross and a steady northern migration of surf scoters and brant geese. We are headed to Isla San Benito for an island stop tomorrow.

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

(From Apr. 3)

Howdy whalewatchers,

Our last full day together aboard Searcher ended with a delicious meal and the sharing of memories, photos and highlights.  It was really nice to hear the passenger’s kind remarks and to see how much work went into the original poem that was recited.

Passengers disembarked in Cabo this morning, boarding air-conditioned shuttles to San Jose del Cabo, either to the estuary for some birdwatching or directly to the Hotel Tropicana.  Most passengers enjoyed the early morning walk from the estuary to the hotel, where the group met to enjoy breakfast together for one last time.

After breakfast, there was time to explore the plaza and shops in San José del Cabo. Highlights included the church (Iglesia San José del Cabo), the Huichol Art gallery at Marquina, and the brightly colored paleteria where they make fresh fruit sorbets and popsicles.

The relaxed atmosphere of the town was perfect for the passengers to ease back into civilization.  This group was a lot of fun and we were sad to see them go.

Heading north and readying for our next departure – looking forward to meeting our next group!

Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers,
We finished our day yesterday with a close sighting of a red-billed tropicbird which sat on the water off our bow and then took flight for some very happy photographers. We also saw least and black storm petrels, Savin’s and yellow-footed gulls, eared grebes,and brown, blue-footed and masked boobies.  We anchored and prepared for our back deck barbeque night.
It was a fun night, with music, singing, dancing – everyone seemed to have a great time.

Chef Charley’s signature bbq sauce was a big hit. As the sun went down, we did even more wildlife spotting, observing Pacific greenback mackerel feeding on the surface and even seeing a pair of domestic cattle on the beach!  Today we spent the morning at Isla San Francisco, starting our day with skiff rides to the sandy beach and a few route options for the morning walk.  Some of the highlights from the walk were:
Wilson’s plover, snowy egret, great blue heron, wandering tattler, San Francisco Island side-blotched lizard.  After returning to the boat for a snack, some passengers returned to the beach for some swimming and sunbathing while others traveled by skiff to snorkel along the rocks.  The water visibility was excellent, especially for viewing a large community of Cortez garden eels.
Travelling south, more later.
Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers,
We’ve enjoyed another beautiful day in the Sea of Cortez. We woke up to the shoreline view of Isla Santa Catalina.  Chef Charley prepared omelets to order before the passengers boarded the skiffs for a morning nature walk. We were pleased to find a rattleless rattlesnake so that everyone could have a look or a photo.  The passengers enjoyed walking through the landscape, which one commented was like a  living museum, with a gorgeous display of mature cardon cacti, barrel cactus, and birdlife including ladderback and gila woodpeckers, white-throated swifts, oystercatchers, spotted sandpiper, great blue heron, blue footed booby, turkey vultures and a wandering tattler.

We returned to the boat for a snack and some passengers went on a coastal cruise, while others opted for a snorkel. The visibility and water temp were good and lots of fish species were spotted, including creole fish, multiple species of sea stars, tinsel squirrelfish, pufferfish, and more.  Lunch was duck confit salad with freshly baked bread. Our most exciting encounter of the day was a sighting of Stellar sea monkeys which delighted everyone.
Heading south to look for whales.  More later.
Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers:
We woke up this morning to an awesome sunrise reflected off of Punta Colorado. Chef Charley prepared waffles and bacon for breakfast, then we took off in the Searcher skiffs for a nature walk ashore where we explored tidepools, looked at fossils, and ventured up a sandy arroyo for viewings of ash throated flycatchers, cardinals and gnatcatchers.

We returned to Searcher for a snack and then a group of snorkelers took a quick skiff ride to a nearby location with excellent visibility, warm water and plentiful sea life. All returned with sightings of pufferfish, pipefish, triggerfish, zebra moray eel and large schools of blue and gold snapper and  burrito grunt.  Everyone is back and having lunch now – pork carnitas, pinto beans and fresh toppings and salsa.
Looking for whales – stay tuned.
After our busy morning at Punta Colorado, passengers spent a warm afternoon napping on the stern or playing games in the salon.  First there was a Bananagrams tournament, then many joined in on a fun game of Loteria where the grand prize was a box of Belgian chocolates!  We’ll be anchoring at Isla Santa Catalina tonight with a walk and a snorkel tomorrow morning.
Capt Aaron and Team Searcher

Howdy whalewatchers:,
We started our day with a hearty breakfast  to prepare for a morning of whale shark observations just outside of La Paz. The first pangas out had early views of groups of feeding bottlenose dolphins as the spotters scanned the area for whale sharks. Some passengers observed the wildlife from the shaded seating in the panga while others opted to jump in with our local guide and swim with these amazing creatures.  We observed several whale sharks feeding and swimming, some were easily over 26 feet long! The conditions were excellent for viewing both above and below the surface – even the plankton was visible, spilling into the whale shark’s open mouth as it fed.  It has been a memorable day already, and there’s still more to come. The weather is warm and sunny and not too hot.  Look for another report soon.

Howdy whalewatchers,
This afternoon we saw a blue whale on the way to Isla Los Islotes, where more than half of the passengers opted to swim with the sea lions.  The late afternoon snorkel was filled with colorful reef fish and playful and interactive juvenile sea lions. After all that, we spotted a Bryde’s whale a mile northwest of Los Islotes. Dinner was bluefin tuna, broccolini, herb risotto with tomato fumet and most importantly, dessert was fresh berries with cream and sorbet.   We are off to Punta Colorado where we will walk and snorkel tomorrow.
Capt Aaron and Team Searcher