Trip Reports

Hello whalewatchers: Today we had an awesome day viewing humpback whales and bottlenose dolphin. We had windy conditions but it didn’t impact us too much. We started the day at first light around the Gorda Banks with multiple whales and several breaches. The conditions weren’t the greatest out on the banks so we elected to head for the coast and it paid off. We found a group of about 20 humpbacks in a small area, and there were multiple whales breaching and flipper flapping and tail lobbing at the same time! it was tremendous. Along with the humpbacks there were several bottlenose dolphin associated with the whales. They were performing as well. We spent at least two hours in the area. It has to be one of the better humpback days we’ve had recently as far as the acrobactics is concerned.
We also had a rare bird sighting– white-necked petrel. It was in the Gorda Banks area and our naturalist Lee Morgan saw three individuals.  We ended the day at Bahia Los Frailes with a snorkel session and a late afternoon walk.
Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: We had a great day today, staying pretty busy with lots of common dolphin, plenty of bird life and good looks at humpback whales. We had a close look at a cow and calf, a pair of adults and to end the day a pair of breachers. We also had good looks at a Bryde’s whale cow and calf, and also  a distant look at short finned pilot whales. We added 2 more species of cetaceans today.
We saw lots of birds–masked and brown boobies, tropicbird, Sabine’s gull, frigatebirds, and more. Those were the highlights. Our weather was ok with overcast skies in the morning and clear skies in the afternoon. Breezy conditions most of the day but not bad enough to stop us from working. Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: Another great day in Laguna San Ignacio. The morning was fabulous with plenty of close encounters for all. The afternoon had great viewing and really good walk on the beach with lots to look at. We are headed south for tomorrow. I am including another picture of the cow and calf that visied us most of the morning, our friends. We are sharing with one of our pangas full of happy clients and our old friend Frederico.
Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: We are having a glorious morning in the lagoon. We have had a cow and calf visiting us off and on since yesterday afternoon, and they are with us now. It’s a pretty incredible event, with the pangas  participating with our passengers and scrubbing the whale with a soft deck brush. It just doesn’t get any better than this in this magical place. Our newest crew member Andrew Viola (on loan from another boat) is pictured with the scrub brush in hand and a gray whale cow at the end of the brush getting scrubbed. Andrew had no idea what to expect when he came on this trip. He is glad he came.
Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: We have a very enthusiastic group with us and even windy conditions this afternoon did not impede their willingness to get back in the pangas for the final trip of the day. I think everyone had a great day of whalewatching with all the usual behaviors associated with gray whales, including this breach!
Looking forward to tomorrow, Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: We are having a great day in Laguna San Ignacio. Plenty of whales are here and we’ve had close encounters for all the passengers on their first trip. The cows and calves have taken over the observation zone. Latest census was 200 whales. More later, Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: We had another great day at Islas San Benito with beautiful weather and a cool breeze to make it nice for hiking. The flowers are still in bloom for the most part. It appears that the female elephant seals have started to return so there are more seals hauled out on the beaches. Good viewing of ospreys was reported by the group as well.
After leaving the island we came across two blue whales and one was fluking. We hope to find fluking blue whales and so it is nice to see one this early in the trip. Hoefully we will come across another later on. We want  to see a Bryde’s and a sei to complete the full complement of baleen whales we might see in Baja! We are off to a tremendous start on this trip.
We are headed to Laguna San Ignacio and will arrive tomorow morning after breakfast. Looking forward to visiting again. Today’s picture is self explanatory.
Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: After our incredible start, we continued to have good sightings. We saw northbound gray whales and humpback whales, and after lunch we had a curious minke whale that hung out with us for close to an hour. A little further south we saw multiple fin whales, and we had a good look at one fin whale with clean water and good lighting to see the distinctive white lower right jaw. We saw four baleen whales on our first day, along with both species of common dolphin and  false killer whales–seven different species in one day is pretty remarkable.
The bird list is pretty long too, with the highlights including a Laysan albatross and Scripps murrelets. The weather is fantastic with almost no wind and calm seas.
More tomorrow from Islas San Benito, Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: What a start to trip #4! After leaving Ensenada we came across a group of about 50 false killer whales. We spent close to two hours with the group and had some up-close looks at them. We also were able to turn the hydro =phone on and hear these whales vocalize. It is a high pitched squeal. Very cool!
Since we spent so much time looking at these rare whales we decided to forgo our time at Isla Todos Santos. We started travelling south and saw some long-beaked common dolphin, northbound gray whales and a single humpback that was exhibiting an unusal behavior, going through floating pieces of kelp and opening its mouth. It appeared to be feeding on what ever was associated with the kelp. It also did some pectoral flipper flapping. The weather is awesome with calm seas and no wind.
More later, Team Searcher

Hello whalewatchers: We had another great day full of activity. We started at daylight with a skiff trip into the mangroves at San Jose. We travelled south towards Los Islotes and we saw some more common dolphin, a humpback and a group of 50 short-finned pilot whales. We arrived at Los Islotes at 11 am and did a skiff ride and a snorkel session before lunch.  The finale was a blue whale that we were able to track and everyone had some great looks at a big blue whale and its flukes. A great way to end our trip. By the way the weather again was outstanding.
Team Searcher