Dear whalewatchers: The group has arrived to Cabo San Lucas and has departed the boat. The report from yesterday was stellar! They enjoyed some birdwatching in the mangroves at Isla San Jose, snorkeling with sea lions at Islas Los Islotes and then the trip topper–time spent watching sperm whales–Wow!
Next tour leaves Wednesday, lead by Searcher’s Paul Jones and Birdquest’s Marc Van Beirs, and we’ll get back to full daily reports.
Hello whalewatchers: We’ve had another beautiful day in the Sea of Cortez. We started with a nice walk on Isla Santat Catalina and shortly after that, a very nice snorkel in perfect conditions. Not very long after we left the island there were a lot of dwarf sperm whales on the surface and we got to have several really good looks at those. After that we saw a small group of pilot whales and then it was dolphins pretty much all afternoon. To finish the day there was a couple square mile area of jumping smooth-tailed mobulas leaping all over the place. So we’re headed to Agua Verde for tomorrow. Today’s photo is the elusive endemic rattleless rattlesnake from Isla Santa Catalina.
Capt Aaron and the Searcher crew
Hello whalerwatchers: We had another beautiful day in the Sea of Cortez. The weather was great and the walk/snorkel at San Jose Island was great too. Shortly after leaving the island, we enjoyed a big group of long-beaked common dolphins and shortly after that pilot whales–one of my favorites. We were lucky to find a group of bottlenose dolphin to end the day. We’re off to Santa Catalina island to see what the next day brings.
Capt Aaron and the Searcher crew
Hello whalewatchers: We had another fabulous day here on the Searcher, including lots of really good looks at humpback whales. We got to see all types of action: breaching, flipper flapping, and some tail lobbing. The highlight was seeing a baby humpback breaching repeatedly over and over. We also we got to parallel a blue whale for some time, The animal never really went deep so we were able to see what blue whales do when they just are beeing blue whales. The weather is awesome and the forecast looks great as well. We;re off and up into the Sea of Cortez , our first spot tomorrow will be Punta Colorado. so wish us luck.
Capt Aaron and the Searcher crew
Hello whalewatchers: What an awesome day we had! We enjoyed amazing weather and our wildlife sightings started before daylight. We had common dolphins from daylight til about 8 a.m.. Shortly after that we found a pair of humpbacks, and after that we saw a cow and calf blue whale in clear, blue water with the best light possible. They were like submarines, just staying a few feet under the surface. It was amazing! After we continued on, we found a Bryde’s whale in the same conditions-it just glided under the surface for one cycle of breaths before it was gone. We really got to see the characteristics of a Brydes whale with the three ridges between the blow hole and the tip of its rostrum. To add to the sightings list, we had sea turtle almost every 1/4 mile. I lost count of how many we saw today. We finished the day with two Cooks petrels and three humpbacks waving their flippers good evening. Wish us good luck tomorrow too!
Capt Aaron and the Searcher crew
Hello whalewatchers: We enjoyed another great day in the lagoon! The weather was great and the whales were friendly. We are on our way south to look for wildlife all day tomorrow. Wish us luck. Here is a photo of the cow and calf gray whale hanging out around the boat today. 
Team Searcher
Hello whalewatchers: We had a beautiful day in the lagoon with calm conditions– a sunny morning and then a little breeze in the afternoon. Everyone aboard got to be touched by a whale! We’re gonna try for another great day here in the lagoon tomorrow.
This is peetie — he hung out all day long with us on Searcher.
Hello whalewatchers: Wildlife viewing started at daylight when we had three black footed albatrosses and a laysan albatross follow us all the way to San Benito Island. The group had a great day on the island and saw four different pinnipeds (harbor, Guadalupe fur, and elelephant seals, and California sea lions), peregrine falcons and ospreys as well. After we got everyone aboard and left the island. we saw a blue whale and spent some time with it. The views of the whale were spot on! We managed to parallel the whale for 15 minutes with the animal just a few feet under the surface in blue water. Then after a small bit of its tail we called it an awesome way to spend a day. So we’re off to San Ignacio lagoon to see if we can find a gray whale.
Capt Aaron and the Searcher crew
Hello whalewatchers: Today was a great day for viewing wildlife aboard Searcher. We started out with some nice looks at elephant seals, harbor seals and young sea lions at Islas Todos Santos. Shortly after leaving we saw some northbound gray whales, then a pair of humpback whales, and then some short-beaked common dolphins. We then found a black-footed and laysan albatrosses. But the cherry on top of our day was a sighting of a fin whale, very close to the boat! That was followed by two more great looks at the same whale before we continued south.
We are off to Islas San Benito for another adventure tomorrow.
Capt Aaron and Searcher crew
Our tour chartered by Naturetrek has departed and entered into Mexican waters this morning. All is well and we are standing by for the wildlife reports!
