Trip Reports

Hello whalewatchers: We had another great day in Laguna San Ignacio with clear skies and light winds for most of the day. Everyone had a close encounter with a gray whale today. There is still a good amount of whales here .. The census three days ago counted 53 cow/calf pairs and five single whales. The calves are definatley bigger this trip. Looking forward to tomorrow. David Cohen and Jim Graham say the gray whale watching was so good they had to have a beer when they returned to Searcher.
We will turn the generator off and look at the stars tonight. Very clear skies today so we should be able to see alot.
More tomorrow, Team Searcher

Dear friends: I will be receiving a full report Thursday morning, but all is well aboard Searcher! They had a wonderful day ashore at Isla San Benito west. Their walk took them to some crowded elephant seal coves as many seals had returned to the island to molt. They found a cove of Guadalupe fur seals (photo by Chris Shields) as well.

Back aboard, they travelled south and found both a fin and a blue whale, and a long seabird list. I hope to post more details tomorrow.

And our dear birthday girl, Sabby, had a nice round of “Happy Birthday” after dinner!

(We are sorry for the delay in a report. We have a little computer issue on the boat. We’ll try to transfer reports via phone!)

The trip is well underway and there was a terrific seabirding day yesterday, as it was an entire day at sea. There was a stop at Islas Todos Santos to observe harbor seals, elephant seals, and some nesting birds. They also spotted two humpback whales and a large sunfish. However, the ocean has a large swell right now, so the viewing conditions weren’t ideal. That swell is diminishing and conditions will improve. This morning (Wednesday), they will be anchoring at an island for a wonderful walk around a remote island with wildlife, including elephant seal weaners (photo by Rob Nawojchik).

Howdy whalewatchers, We enjoyed another beautiful day on the Sea of Cortez with calm seas and no wind. After our morning walk and snorkel at Agua Verde, we left and found another large group of common dolphin with two humpbacks with them. A humpback breached right in front of the boat! After that we headed south and the mammal life was slow, but we saw lots of manta rays and striped marlin. And to finish the day we had a really good look at two red-billed tropicbirds. We had our back-deck BBQ dinner too!
Good whalewatching and observing nature as it comes to you,
Capt Aaron and Searcher crew

Howdy whalewatchers, It was another wonderful day on the Sea of Cortez. We started with a walk on Isla Santa Catalina and then a short skiff ride off the island to get splashed by common dolphin who were feeding on bait fish hiding under the skiffs! Birds were also getting in on the program. After lunch we headed west in look of more wildlife and today was the day of the dolphin. Our first group of bottlenose dolphins (about 100) put on an excellent show, jumping off the bow and in our wake. The second group was a bit smaller but did the same show–jumping and putting on a great show of acrobatics. We didn’t see a large whale today. but we’re gonna try again tomorrow after our morning walk and snorkel at Bahia Agua Verde.
Good whalewatching and observing nature as it comes your way, Capt Aaron and Searcher crew

Howdy whalewatchers, Today started with a sunrise on Punta Colorado and it was stunning. The passengers had a nice walk on the island and then we went off to whalewatc. We didn’t go more than a mile off of the island before we encountered five blue whales and we were fortunate to have them fluking for us. After that the wind backed off to nothing and we saw lots of mantas jumping and a few marlin. We saw a couple of fin whales that were headed south and so we left them and headed north. We watched  the sun setting over the Baja peninsula with a herd of 2000 long-beaked common dolphin feeding on bait and birds joining in. So we’re off to Isla Santa Catalina for a morning walk on the island, and then off to find some more wildlife.
Good whalewatching and observing nature as it comes to you, Capt Aaron and Searcher crew

Howdy whalewatchers, We had another wonderful sunrise and then all I can say is “humpbacks humpbacks humpbacks!” They put on a show for us with jumping, flipper flapping and tail lobbing. We had three whales breach, one after another and our finale was the best. We had two jump a few times right as everyone was having lunch, making great scenery for the view windows in our restaurant! Along with calm seas, blue water and sunshine, it was another perfect day aboard Searcher.
Good whalewatching and observing nature as it comes your way,
Capt Aaron and Searcher crew

Howdy whalewatchers: It all started with a fantastic sunrise and calm seas. Shortly after we found our first blue whale, and shortly after that, we found the blue whale we were looking for–a large animal and it fluked every dive. We couldn’t ask for better conditions. The sunlight was perfect and the water was clear enough to see the whole animal under water. This animal literally fluked 35 feet off the bow of the Searcher. It didn’t get any better and it was just hard to explain with words what everyone saw. Unfortunately we had to leave the whale to head south. We found a group of pilot whales and got to observe them for a bit. As we continued south we had a sun setting with another group of about 100 pilot whales. It was a great way to end the day.
Good whalewatching and observing nature as it comes to you,
Capt Aaron and the Searcher crew

Howdy whalewatchers,  Well it happened again–another phenomenal day in the lagoon. Our first trip out we went to the mangroves and it turned out a success for the the birders. And then it happened–the wind stopped and the next three trips out were “game on”! Whales, whales, whales and they were friendly. So we’re on out way traveling south, looking for more wildlife outside of mag bay. Stay tuned! Happy whalewatching and observing nature as it comes to you.
Capt Aaron and the Searcher crew
p.s. Here you go, Dylan. Here’s your grandmother touching a gray whale!

Howdy whalewatchers: The first day of San Ignacio Lagoon is gonna be hard to beat tomorrow! After entering the lagoon we had gray whales escorting us in until the anchor went down. Once the panga drivers showed up and left with the passengers, it was minutes before they were touching whales. It was awesome! They were so close that i could still hear the people laughing and talking about their first whale. The weather was really good too and it will be very hard to beat tomorrow. So wish us luck and we will let you know how it goes.
Good whalewatching and observing nature as it comes to you, Capt Aaron and the Searcher crew.