Baja - Birds and Whales and Fishes, Oh My!

This time around our "Backcountry" was the open ocean. We learned late about the opportunity for this trip and found we could shoehorn it in between two other big international trips. We couldn't pass it up. The trip (Baja and the Sea of Cortez) was organized by WildWings and run on the Spirit of Adventure out of San Diego. The focus was on sea mammals but there was plenty of birds both on the ocean and land to keep us happy. From San Diego we would sail south down the length of the Baja Peninsula, stopping at a few key destinations, and around the tip at Cabo San Lucas into the Sea of Cortez for the remainder of the trip.

We ventured out into the Pacific after dark and motored many miles south while we slept. The first day was spent cruising further south scanning the ocean for sea birds along the way. Plenty of shearwaters, albatross, and other pelagic birds kept us busy all day. We even found our first Blue Whale migrating north late in the afternoon although the relatively rough seas prevented the amazing looks we would get later in the trip.

The lights of downtown San Diego as we cruise out of the harbor

Laysan Albatross

By the next morning we were anchored off the San Benitos Islands and ready for some shore time. The skiffs were launched to take us ashore at Benito del Oeste, the largest island in the group for adventuring. This was a chance to see the San Benito Sparrow, either a full species or a sub-species of Savannah Sparrow depending on which taxonomy you look at.

We cruised further south heading for San Ignacio Lagoon and a date with some Gray Whales. Along the way we picked up another migrating Blue Whale and a really friendly Laysan Albatross.

San Ignacio Lagoon is a large bay with a shallow water entrance. It is a protected wintering area for Pacific Gray Whales. Eco-tourism is booming here as the local fisherman become boat drivers for the many visitors who wish to spend time with the often friendly whales during the winter season. We were to spend two days playing with whales and making shore excursions for birding.

We had three skiffs reserved for our visit, plenty of space for everyone to get out and hunt for whales. The mother whales and their calves born earlier in the winter were relatively easy to spot in the clear water. These whales are known to be friendly to humans, and when they are in the mood will swim up to the skiff for a pat on the head. The calves seem to be the most friendly though we did have one mom who joined junior for a scratch behind the ear. In the photos, Susan is wearing a gray windbreaker.

A Gray Whale "spyhops," poking its head up to have a look around

While in the lagoon we also had a chance to cruise a mangrove forest in the skiffs, and land on the beach for a bit of birding.

Cruising the mangroves at high tide

Tricolored Heron

White Ibis

Mangrove Yellow Warbler

Happy Gray Whalers

All too soon it was time to move on. We spent another night and day at sea to finish the pacific side of Baja and move into the Sea of Cortez at Cabo San Lucas. Early in the morning we had a spectacular Blue Whale encounter, following him as he surfaced and submerged for over an hour. Our boat has sonar which makes following most submerged whales a whole lot easier. Blue Whales are actually gray in color, but look spectacularly blue in clear water and good light.

A tail fluke as our whale goes for a deep dive

The boat continued cruising in search of whales, and score we did. First found were a group of Humpback Whales actively feeding in ones, twos, and threes. With so many whales around us it was easy to stay near those hanging on the surface for a brief time. One even spyhopped next to the stern, and luckily I had my phone in video ready to go.

Rainbow in the blow from a Blue Whale

Blue Whale tail fluke

Finally, two beautiful Fin Whales, the second largest mammal on earth after the Blue Whale.

Late in the afternoon we landed at Las Frailes beach and easily found the first of the three possible Baja endemics - Gray Thrasher. There were lots of other great birds as well.

Gray Thrasher

The full moon rose after dark as we continued our motor north. It was quite spectacular rising over the water from the deck of a boat moving at 10 knots.

Early the next morning we were at anchor near Isla San Jose. We were off the boat and on land early for a nice bird walk. There were lots of the expected desert species, and surprisingly we found a Gray Vireo. After the walk we did some snorkeling and skiff cruising along the cliffs.

Gray Vireo

The rest of the day was spent cruising the ocean looking for cetaceans. The Spirit of Adventure crew continued to perform their whale finding magic and turned up 8 Sperm Whales after a short time. Again I was lucky to have video ready to go as three whales lined up and tail fluked for a dive.

One of my most wanted to see birds for the trip, a Red-billed Tropicbird, allowed the boat to get close enough for a great photo op.

And we can't forget the large pod of Bottlenose Dolphins who playfully jumped in the wake of the boat.

Morning had us at anchor off Isla Santa Catalina for another shore excursion. The beautiful cordon cactus and desert habitat on an island were hard to wrap your head around.

The birding was fun but we didn't find anything unexpected.

Gila Woodpecker on cordon cactus

As we left the island, we threw some bread over the back and soon had a couple dozen Yellow-footed Gulls tagging along. This is the dominant gull species in the Sea of Cortez.

As we cruised on there were several more Blue Whales, and lots of Common and Bottlenose Dolphins.

We were back near the mainland on the second to last morning for a shore excursion and a chance for our second Baja endemic bird - Xantus Hummingbird. There were lots of birds around but I focused my attention in the limited time trying for at least one image of the hummingbird.

Xantus Hummingbird

Cruising toward our afternoon activities the crew spotted two rare and difficult to see whales - Dwarf Sperm Whale and Pygmy Beaked Whale. Neither of these is very photogenic, diving at the approach of the ship, but it was amazing to get a glimpse of these secretive cetaceans. A young Brown Booby did pose for us as we cruised by.

The afternoon was spent at a California Sea Lion colony at Los Islotes Island swimming with the overly friendly pinapeds and tropical fish. Brown and Blue-footed Boobies, along with many Magnificent Frigatebirds and more, inhabited the rocks.

Blue-footed Booby

Blue-footed Booby

Magnificent Frigatebird

Frigagebirds will do anything for a free lunch. Here several (and a Yellow-footed Gull) chase the one with the fish

Great Blue Heron

Brown Pelican and Frigatebird

Bull Sea Lion and a couple of females

Wandering Tattler

Yellow-footed Gull

From there we cruised south a short distance for a sunset dinner next to a frigatebird roost rock. It was lovely, and JP's epic margaritas made it all the better.

The after dinner entertainment was supplied by the local Brown Pelicans. The crew put up a light on the side of the boat that attracted small fish, which attracted larger fish, which attracted the pelicans. We enjoyed endless laughs as the pelicans plunge dived out of the darkness overhead into the light next to the boat for an easy meal.

Diving Brown Pelican captured just as it enters the water with flash photography

We were in for a real treat on the last morning. Cruising into La Paz bay we met up with a local operator who take folks for a swim with Whale Sharks. These relatively slow moving filter feeding sharks are the largest fish species, reaching up to 40 feet in length with a weight of over 20 tons. Some folks only wanted to watch the sharks from the skiff, but a bunch of us were up for the swim of a lifetime. The small boat took us near a cruising shark where we rotated in two groups of five swimming with the shark for as long as we could keep up. All I can say is WOW!

That's Susan in the white/red swim cap

We still had lots of miles to go that afternoon as we cruised toward our final port at Cabo San Lucas, but there was time for some spotting along the way. A large pod of Pilot Whales allowed close approach by the boat as the lazily swam about.

As the sun set on our last full day we watched a huge school of Smooth-tailed Mobula (related to rays) "flying" out of the water, often with a resounding splash. The captain stayed with the school until the sun was well down before heading south.

We were in port at Cabo San Lucas early the next morning for a short taxi ride to the airport. We had one last stop to make at a small marsh at the edge of town for our last Baja endemic - Belding's Yellowthroat. It took some looking but we managed to turn up a couple during the short visit.

Belding's Yellowthroat

Some thank yous are in order. To Wendy and WildWings, thanks for getting us on this trip at the last minute, it was a blast. To the crew of the Spirit of Adventure: Captain Brian, Ann-Marie, Dan, Dean, JP, Evan, Scott, and Jethro - you guys are amazing. The spotless ship, fantastic meals, constant activities from sunup to sundown, and amazing wildlife spotting in a really big ocean - thank you so much for the trip. To our fellow passengers: thanks for the fun and friendship, it was a pleasure to meet and spend time with you all. And to our expedition leaders David Wimpfheimer and Sharkman Scot Anderson, thank you for your excellent attention, natural history education, and the all around great voyage. And David, thank you for letting us know about this trip and helping us get it arranged so quickly.

To our readers: this trip runs every year with a long history of great voyages. We highly recommend the voyage.

Happy adventurers!