WHALES & SEABIRDS
2.5-Days of Luxury on the SEARCHER
Whale and Seabird Natural History Adventure
Sponsored By:  Searcher Natural History Tours
Saturday May 29 to Monday May 31, 2010

The Memorial Day weekend double-overnight Whales and Seabirds trip aboard SEARCHER delivered all we hoped for and more:  Sunny skies, warm temperatures, gently rolling seas and pleasant breezes.  Highlights included 6 tropicbirds, 6 skua, 4 Laysan Albatrosses and 11 species of cetaceans including Blue Whales, a cooperative Minke Whale, a very late northbound adult Grey Whale and 20 very-rare-this-far-south Northern Right Whale Dolphins.

We did not venture as far north or west as we had two weeks earlier aboard Grande into the Cook’s Petrel zone, instead making the decision to stay south of San Clemente island to maximize both our marine mammal and bird lists.   We decided to leave it to the Condor Express to head back into 2000 fathom waters on June 12 to hunt more pterodroma and Laysan Albatrosses. 

We departed Fisherman’s Landing at San Diego Harbor Saturday morning, out and up the Nine Mile Bank then crossed the Thirty Mile Bank on our way to San Clemente Island. 

·        3 Tropicbirds (all in LA County) en route to San Clemente Island, the first about 15 miles east of Pyramid Cove, with two more a bit closer to the cove. 

·        4 northbound individual South Polar Skuas.

·        1 very late migrating adult California Grey Whale.

·        300 Long-beaked Common Dolphin.

·        1 Black-footed Albatross.

·        1 Sabine’s Gull.

·        100 Sooties and 50 Pinkies.

·        50 Black Storm-Petrels.

·        5 Fin Whales.

·        2 Mako Sharks.

·        6 California Flying Fish.

We anchored in San Clemente Island’s Pyramid Cove for dinner and bedtime.   

We departed Pyramid Cove at 3 a.m. and awoke Sunday at dawn about 20 miles east of the Cortez Bank to see another Skua and our first Leach’s Storm-Petrels of the trip.  We spent the morning heading south over 500-1000 fathom deep water, meandering towards the old munitions dumping grounds then northeastward towards the 60 Mile Bank.  It proved to be a very productive course.  We spent the entire day in Los Angeles county waters.

Before breakfast we encountered our first of several groups of Xantus’s Murrelets with chicks, diving and resurfacing, but not flying.  While enjoying the close-up murrelets we found ourselves in the middle of a great westward stream of Sooty Shearwaters flying by at the rate of 6000 an hour.  We put out some oil and hung around for a while longer, watching 75-100 Sooties a minute fly by.  By the time we had worked our way south beyond 4 or 5 mile wide “Sooty Freeway” we had counted more than 5,000 of them – all westbound on a mission.

·        3 Laysan Albatross

·        14 Black-footed Albatross

·        6200 Sooty Shearwater

·        58 Pink-footed Shearwater

·        200 Leach’s Storm-Petrels (see species list below for races) 

·        86 Black Storm-Petrels

·        6 Sabine’s Gulls

·        2 Skua

·        17 Xantus’s Murrelets

·        3 Red-billed Tropicbirds

·        5 of the northern (nominate) race of Leach’s Storm-Petrel, plus a nice selection of Townsend’s and Chapman’s.

·        10 Red Phalarope

·        2 Northern Fulmar

·        2 Guadalupe Fur Seal

·        1 Minke Whale – we could see the white band on the pectoral fins

·        9 Fin Whales – white right jaw visible in the clear blue water

·        88 Pacific White Sided Dolphin, many of them hurtling themselves in somersaults out of the water

·        20 Northern Right Whale Dolphin, very uncommon in waters this far south

·        1 Japanese glass ball

Monday morning we awoke in Mexico about ten miles offshore of Rosarito and followed 2 very cooperative Humpback Whales, many participants watching the whale show from the galley while enjoying Chef Chaz’s delicious breakfast.  Captain Art Taylor then found the final whales of the day, a pair of Blue Whales – the largest animal to ever live on the earth. 

We spent more than an hour with the Blue Whales before sailing ten miles north to the Coronados Islands to view the Brown Booby colony.  We counted 36 boobies including 3 chicks.  We also enjoyed good looks at Black Oystercatchers and Elephant and Harbor Seals before heading back to San Diego.

On Memorial Day weekend, SEARCHER Natural History Tours is off in search of Blue Whales, Risso's Dolphins, Common Dolpins and who knows what other marine mammals that are seldom – if ever – seen from shore.

Seabirds are on the docket, too.  We’ll probably see southern-hemisphere breeding Pink-footed and Sooty Shearwaters, Black Storm-Petrels, South Polar Skua (Antarctic thugs raised as youngsters on a diet of penguin), Red-necked Phalarope, Pomarine and Parasitic Jaegers, Xantus's Murrelet, Cassin's Auklet (we will probably see 6-7 of these 9 species).

Further out in deeper water (the San Clemente basin or the Cortez and Tanner Banks beyond San Clemente) we may find Black-footed or Laysan Albatrosses, Flesh-footed Shearwater, Leach's & Ashy Storm-Petrels, Red-Billed Tropicbird, Brown Booby, Blue-footed Booby, Sabine's Gull and Arctic Tern (we’ll probably see 3 or 4 and maybe 5 of these 10 rarer species).

Much larger than the biggest dinosaur, heavier than a DC-10 jet liner, bigger than three school busses, Blue Whales are the largest animals ever to live on the face of the earth – and SEARCHER plans to get up close and personal with them.  Late spring and early summer is a great time to look for these majestic creatures; they migrate annually from their winter breeding grounds in warm tropical waters where they mate and give birth.  In the summer they return to California and parts north where they feed for 3-4 months on the rich supply of krill and other food which occur in huge numbers along western North America.

Where we go is dependant on where whales and birds are "life zones" are being seen.  Another factor is the seas.  SEARCHER is an ultra-comfortable 95-foot boat that can handle pretty much any types of seas, but a primary consideration in any route is the comfort of  passengers.  The beauty of this trip plan is that even if we encounter a rare late spring storm, we can spend a lot of productive times in the lee of San Clemente Island.  The usual moderate seas of late May/early June should allow us to poke our noses further out to explore the wonders that await in the deeper waters on the other side of San Clemente. 

Day 1: Board SEARCHER at 8 a.m. at Fisherman's Landing in San Diego. Motor to the Nine Mile Bank in search of migrating offshore blue whales and dolphins. We'll spend the rest of the day over deep-water areas to encounter pelagic birds and other marine life.

Day 2: Spend the entire day offshore searching and observing marine mammals and birds.

Day 3: Cruise past Los Coronados Islands (in Mexican waters) to view the nesting colonies of Brown Boobies, Brown Pelicans, Brandt’s Cormorants, and look for oystercatchers and other booby species which have been known to “show up” with the Brown Booby colony.  We’ll also look for Elephant and Harbor Seals, California Sea Lions and other animals that use these remote islets for resting, nesting, and feeding. Arrive back to the dock at Fisherman's Landing by noon on Memorial Day. 

We don't know exactly what we see until we're out there.  That's the facinating aspect of riding SEARCHER, you'll see things that the average person will never see in their entire life.  It's always great fun, and we hope you'll join us. 

LEADERS for this trip will include marine mammal and seabird experts.
Boarding Time:  7:45 a.m.
Departure Time: 8:15 a.m.         
Return:  Monday, Memorial Day, by noon

ADVANCE RESERVATIONS:  Advance reservations are $395 and include all meals, snacks, beverages.  Reservations for this trip are handled by Searcher Natural History Tours  (619) 226-2403 or the Searcher Natural History Tours website

IMPORTANT DETAILS:   Click for important logistic information about Searcher. 

HOW TO PREPARE:  Click for tips on how to prepare, what to wear, what to bring and when to arrive.

CONVENIENT SAN DEIGO LODGING:  Maps and lodging recommendations:  Inexpensive San Diego lodging options