Trip Reports

Feb 28

Hello whalewatchers:

We arrived at the Gorda Banks offshore Cabo San Lucas around breakfast time.  We were welcomed by multiple groups of humpbacks including some mother/calf with escort groups.  One calf was only a couple weeks old. We observed them around for a hour or so before moving on to a various other groups.

The wind came up mid morning making it difficult to work, however we did watch a breaching mother/calf pair before we had to move on.  We ended the day going for a swim at Punta Arena.

We are headed to Punta Colorado tomorrow on Isla San Jose.

Captain Mike and the boys

Feb 25

Hello whalewatchers:

We woke up this morning just above Lazarro, the most western point on Isla Magdelena.  We started seeing single humbacks with the sunrise and a little bit of bird life.  It has been breezy and choppy all day so the conditions are not ideal.  However we did spot our first blue whale of the year just above the main entrance to Bahia Magdelena.  I and the guys in the mast got a good look at it through the binoculars and were able to identify it, however the folks on the main deck level were only able to see the tall spouts being knocked down by the breeze.  After a few breaths it vanished to the depths and we never saw it again.  We spent about a hour trying to re locate it and never did.

After that we got into an area of frisky humpbacks that were jumping around and put on quite the show. They were headed north into the wind and seas.  We spent about a hour with them before continuing on our journey south. We finished with a large pod of common dolphins this evening.

We’re headed for the Gordo Banks, east of Cabo San Lucas now.

Captain Mike and the boys

Feb 25

Hello whalewatchers:

We had a great day in San Ignacio Lagoon today. Starting this morning we had a mother and calf pair hanging around the boat, waiting for the folks to get in the pangas.  As soon as they did, the whales came right to them.  The pair hung around the boat all day and everyone who wanted to touch them did.  They were quite eager.  We got across the sandbar this evening around 5pm and are headed for Bahia Magdalena.

Captain Mike and the boys

Feb 25

Hello whalewatchers:

We arrived at the entrance to Laguna San Ignacio at about 8am and were greeted by numerous gray whales and common dolphin outside the entrance.  We arrived at our anchorage at approximately 9:30 and sent everyone on their first whalewatch excursion.  There are a lot more whales in the lagoon since last time we were here 10 days ago.  The folks had a lovely day despite a little afternoon breeze. We’re hoping for some of the same tomorrow.

Captain Mike and the boys

p.s. Chef Josh prepared a delicious chicken (or eggplant) dinner after this great day with the whales. Tonight’s waiter was Captain Kenny!

Feb 23

We were delayed a few hours in Ensenada this morning due to weather, but we got underway safely.  We saw a large pod of short-beaked common dolphin as we were leaving Bahia Todos Santos. Throughout the day we saw a few humpbacks and gray whales at a distance, along with a few black-footed albatross. We will be at San Benito some time around 11am.

Captain Mike and the boys

Feb 24

Hello whalewatchers:

We arrived just before 11am at San Benito and got everyone ashore by noon.  The folks were greeted by a large male elephant seal on the beach.  They did an hike over to the fur seal colony and we were off at about 3pm.  We were isntantly greated by a large pod of common dolphins which numbered somewhere in the neighborhood of 3000 dolphins.

While we were watching the dolphins, we started seeing whale spouts and turned around and got into an area of feeding fin whales. We stayed with a pair for about 45 min before continuing on.  We immediately spotted a large area of pilot whales which put on a good show. We stayed with them for about a hour.  A couple of fin whales joined in with the pilot whales, making for a great finale for the day.

We’re headed for Laguna San Ignacio now.

Captain Mike and the boys

Hello whalewatchers:

We spent our day outside Bahia Magdalena.  We started the morning with a large pod of common dolphin.  Rob, our naturalist, thinks there were over a thousand of them in the pod.

We had steady action on humpbacks as well all day, including a breacher out of the window during lunch time. It was a little breezy mid-morning until early afternoon, and around 2pm it glassed off.  We ended with brochure weather this evening and we shut down to watch the sunset and drift for dinner.

We’ll be around the cape looking for humpbacks first thing in the morning.

Captain Mike and the boys

Hello whalewatchers:

Our last day in the lagoon did not disappoint.  We woke up to three adult grey whales swimming around the boat.  They hung out during breakfast and for a while after.

Our group split up and the birders went for a skiff ride to the mangroves, and the whalers went whalewatching. There were a few curious mother/calf pairs throughout the day and a few lucky folks had a special encounter with an adult. We finished another great day in Laguna San Ignacio with a beach walk.

We’re southbound again, headed for Bahia Magdalena.

Captain Mike and the boys

Hello whalewatchers:

We arrived at the entrance to Laguna San Ignacio right at sunrise.  We were greeted at the sand bar by numerous gray whales.  We got across the bar and into the anchorage by around 8am and got the groups in the pangas right away.

The latest census stated that there were 57 singles and 21 mother/calf pairs here so there were plenty of whales to look at today. Before the wind came up in the afternoon the folks had multiple friendly encounters. We’re hoping for some more tomorrow.

Captain Mike and the boys

February 13

Hello whalewatchers:

We had a nice day at Isla San Benito today. The weather has been fair at best. It has been windy and rainy, but it looks like it’s starting to back off.

The island’s Guadalupe fur seal colony seems to be growing and healthy. Rob, our naturalist, says he has never seen so many on West island.  So this is a nice suprise along with the Elephant seals on the beach.

We took off around 3pm and after about a hour of looking, we found an area of feeding fin whales and humpbacks.  We spent about a hour with them and we were able to get some very good looks.  We will be at Laguna San ignacio first thing in the morning.