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December 13 gray whale census

2013-12-14T06:05:17-08:00December 14th, 2013|News|

GRAY WHALE CENSUS UPDATE: 13 DEC (PVIC). NINE GRAY WHALES TODAY! Six adult gray whales paraded by us within a two hour time span; at one point we had five gray whales in sight! Most passed within a half mile of us; we could hear the blows on four sightings. It was challenging to track them because some whales swam faster and passed up the earlier sightings; then two sightings joined up and continued swimming together. Whales in six of our nine sightings fluked. We also spotted COMMON DOLPHIN and BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN. Check out our daily counts: http://www.acs-la.org/daily.htm
Today: Southbound gray whales: 9
Northbound gray whales: 0
Total gray whales: 9

24 January census

2020-07-15T16:34:39-07:00January 26th, 2017|News|

The UABCS (Universidad Autonoma de Baja California Sur) biologists  conducted their second census in Laguna San Ignacio and counted the following: 30 mothers and calves, and 15 single whales, for a total of 75 whales.

A very special mother and calf gray whale in Laguna San Ignacio. Photo by Rob Nawojchik.

The numbers are building! The shore-based census in LA has tracked almost 600 southbound gray whales, most of which will enter one of more of Baja’s lagoons. Keep track of that census here: http://www.acs-la.org/daily.htm.

We’re getting ready to take our lucky eco-tourists south for that family reunion!

 

2017 Tour #1 Laguna San Ignacio

2020-07-15T16:34:38-07:00February 11th, 2017|Trip Reports|

Hello whalewatchers: We arrived at one of my favorite places on earth today: Laguna San Ignacio. The weather is great and its all about the gray whales! The census completed on February 9 found a total of 184 whales here: 48 mother/calf pairs and 46 single whales.

 

David Phelps, Searcher passenger. and Steven Swartz, gray whale expert (right) pose on Searcher in the sunshine.

Every year we provide support to Steven Swartz and his research group here in the lagoon. Steven published a book called “Lagoon Time and this year we are gifting our passengers with a signed copy. One of the guests on this trip, David Phelps of England, received a copy from his family in the USA.  As a result of reading the book from cover-to-cover multiple times David decided to make the trip abroad and visit Laguna San Ignacio.

Steven and his team came by the boat today to pick up a few things, and David and a other guests got to meet Steven. This year is his 40th anniversary of working in the lagoon! He has new information about the photo ID program and has discovered are several matches from 1977 of the same whales in this lagoon today. Pretty incredible to know that whales we have been seeing and interacting with for the last 40 years still return every year to this wonderful place. We assume they are in their 50’s, like us.

Here is a link to Steven’s article about the age of living gray whales which isn’t even in press yet: https://www.sanignaciograywhales.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Age-of-GW-FINAL-for-AMJ.pdf

A brand new motor gives the biologists a dependable panga for their work!

One item that we were able to help finance for Steven and his group was a new motor for the research panga! May it live long and assist these biologists who study and protect the gray whales.

 

Afternoon update:

Our activities are finished for today. Everyone enjoyed themselves with good whalewatching and plenty of whales to view. We had some fog midday that made viewing harder for awhile. But since, the weather has been great with light winds.
Check out our new shade awning for the back deck.

It’s a little larger this year and much sturdier.

 

 

 

We are planning to have “lights out” tonight so we can view the lunar eclipse, the “snow” full moon, and maybe the comet. The silence will be nice with the generator off and maybe hear the whales breathing.
Our plan is to go to the mangroves early in the morning to start the day.

Team Searcher

UK’s “The Telegraph” gets touched by Baja

2020-07-15T16:34:28-07:00January 26th, 2018|News|

Journalist Mike Unwin travelled aboard Searcher to Baja California last year. His article was just published and we think it’s pretty awesome! Treat yourself to a read about the whales, cacti, night sky, personalities and more Baja “touches.”

(Photo courtesy of Mike Unwin and Getty Images)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/articles/cruising-mexico-baja-california-whale-watching/

December 15 gray whale counts from shore

2020-07-15T16:35:10-07:00December 16th, 2013|News|

FOURTEEN MORE GRAY WHALES! ACS/LA GRAY WHALE CENSUS UPDATE: 15 DEC (PVIC). Our first two GRAY WHALE sightings (a pair and a trio) traveled very close together. One gray raised its head high; a sea lion porpoised with this sighting. Another gray blew multiple times; then we lost it until it was nearly out of sight. We watched one gray trio for two hours. BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN accompanied a pair of gray whales. FIN WHALES foraged through our area: one pair and one single fin whale. We also spotted COMMON DOLPHIN. Our day ended with a spectacular sunset. NOTE FROM ALISA: Today’s count puts us at SEVENTY-FIVE southbound grays; our previous high count to date (1-15 December, over 30 seasons) was THIRTY-SIX grays, two years ago! This season is most likely an early southbound migration season – or more grays than usual may be using an inshore route; we will know more as the season progresses! -Alisa
Please check out our daily counts: http://www.acs-la.org/daily.htm
Today: Southbound gray whales: 14
Northbound gray whales: 0
Total gray whales: 14

December 12 gray whale census update

2013-12-13T07:00:04-08:00December 13th, 2013|News|

ACS/LA GRAY WHALE CENSUS UPDATE: 12 DEC (PVIC). SIX GRAY WHALES: BIG POD! We watched this group of large adults for two hours! They came close to shore and fluked frequently; one even BREACHED! They rolled, swam in a zig-zag pattern, milled in a tight group near our transect, and crossed the transect twice. A whalewatch boat got on this sighting; they made the local KTLA news! Three FIN WHALES foraged out toward the Redondo Canyon. A MINKE WHALE swam away from where the FIN WHALES were foraging. We also spotted three pods of COMMON DOLPHIN. Our day ended with a green flash. -Alisa
Check out our daily counts: http://www.acs-la.org/daily.htm
Today: Southbound gray whales: 6
Northbound gray whales: 0
Total gray whales: 6.

December 10 gray whale census

2013-12-11T21:05:04-08:00December 10th, 2013|News|

ACS/LA GRAY WHALE CENSUS UPDATE (10 DEC:) Three more GRAY WHALE singles! The first traveled in stealth mode, coming very close to shore. The second was a big adult gray whale that fluked frequently. It would blow 8-10 times at the surface between dives (more than usual); it lifted its head high out of the water twice – almost like a lunge. As we were watching this whale pass about a mile offshore, we found our third gray whale very close to shore: what a treat!
Check out our daily counts: http://www.acs-la.org/daily.htm
TODAY: (10 Dec 2013), Pt. Vicente Interpretive Center
Southbound grays 3
Northbound grays 0
Total grays 3

December 7 gray whale migration update (LA area)

2013-12-08T08:29:29-08:00December 8th, 2013|News|

GRAY WHALE CENSUS UPDATE: 7 Dec: Our first gray whale was a small one that fluked, coming within a mile of shore. A pair of grays came close to shore and joined with a pod of Pacific white-sided dolphin; the whales rolled and displayed their pectoral fins, while the dolphin jumped all around the whales! We also spotted common dolphin and some acrobatic bottlenose dolphin. We battled rain and finished the day with high winds, making it difficult to spot and track sightings. -Alisa
Please check out our daily counts & reports: http://www.acs-la.org/daily.htm
TODAY (7 Dec):
Southbound gray whales: 3
Northbound gray whales: 0
Total gray whales: 3

December 1–Start to shore-based census in LA

2013-12-03T18:09:32-08:00December 1st, 2013|News|

ACS/LA GRAY WHALE CENSUS UPDATE: We found our first gray whale for this season at 7:30 am! This was a very large adult that traveled quite close to shore, fluking on each deep dive: fantastic sight! We spotted several groups of common dolphin throughout the day; the largest group included over 1200 dolphin that spread out and milled, while the last group of several hundred were surface active – leaping high out of the water! A few small groups of bottlenose dolphin passed by just outside the kelp. We also spotted Risso’s dolphin. Our day ended with a gorgeous sunset and a nice green flash. -Alisa
Check out our daily counts & reports: http://www.acs-la.org/daily.htm
As of 1-Dec-2013
Southbound Today 1
Northbound Today 0
Total Whales Today 1

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