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Baja Jones Adventures |
2012
Combination Blue Whale and Gray Whale trips
Plus our newest combo trip: The World's Greatest Whale
Watching Trip
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Baja
Jones Home page
Gray
whale watching page
Blue
whale watching page
A day on the Sea of Cortez with Keith - trip log
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What's
a Combo trip all about? We have combined what we consider
to be the two best whale watching trips anywhere into one exciting
adventure
package. The gray whale portion of the trip takes place in Laguna
Ojo de Liebre, on the Pacific West Coast of the Baja Peninsula.
The
Blue whale portion takes place in the Sea of Cortez, offshore of
Loreto on the east coast of the peninsula. Either
trip segment, all by itself is exciting and is guaranteed
to give you memories that will be with
you for a lifetime. Doing the two together allows you to experience
the deep emotions and feeling of connectivity that
can only come from getting up close and seeing a 40 foot
whale eyeball to
eyeball . Then join the Blue whale quest and feel the rush as
a huge 80 foot whale surfaces just a few yards off the
bow, and the blow drifts across our small 24 foot motorboat.
We
introduced this trip in 2002. It has proved to be far more
popular than we ever visualized it
would be.
At
the bottom of this page you will find some guide trips logs from
past seasons. These
logs are typical and represent our expectations for the Blue Whale
watching portion of the tour. |
| The combination
trip is now our most popular whale watching trip. There are
many reasons for this. First of course is the opportunity to
see and probably get close to the largest animal on Earth. Second
is the great interaction and close encounters we experience with
the gray whales. Third is that the longer trip gives you a
chance to see both sides of the Baja Peninsula. For birders
this is a great opportunity because there are many different birds
between the two sides of the Peninsula. The Sea of
Cortez is usually warm, but may be cool at this time of year. |
Detailed
itinerary for 10 day trip Feb. 5 - 14, 2011 -
The World's Greatest Whale Watching Event
Day #1: The group members arrive in Loreto today. We meet your
plane upon arrival and make the transfer to the El Dorado Hotel. The group usually
meets for an informal discussion about the coming 10 days around 5:00 PM and
then we go to dinner at 6:00 PM. (D)
Day #2: Whale watching for Blue whales off the
coast of Loreto. Breakfast at 7:00 a.m. and we arrive at the dock
around 8:00 a.m. Since we are only a couple blocks from the dock,
most group members generally walk, but we can provide transportation
in the morning if needed. Today we whale watch until lunch. We
expect to stop for lunch on a small island around 1:00 p.m. and
return to the dock following lunch. (B, L, D)
Day #3: Whale watching for Blue whales off the
coast of Loreto. Today is a repeat of yesterdays activities. (B,
L, D)
Day #4: We drive to Magdalena Bay. One whale watch
boat trip at Magdalena Bay to view Gray whales. Following whale
watching we will stop for lunch and then return to Loreto. (B,
L, D)
Day #5: We leave Loreto and drive cross the Baja
Peninsula to the town of Guerrero Negro that is located adjacent
to Laguna Ojo de Liebre. There will be time along the way for one
or two brief desert exploration stops. We arrive in Guerrero Negro
in the early afternoon. (B, L, D)
Day #6: Breakfast at 7:00 am and we depart to
our Gray whale watching at Punta Mariscal at 8:00 am. Here we will
do 2 boat trips out onto Laguna Ojo de Liebre. (B, L, D)
Day #7: Today is set aside to explore the local
lighthouse area and to other activities such as bird watching.
This is really a day of rest because after the week we just finished
many of you will be ready for a day off from early rising. (B,
L, D)
Day #8: We leave Guerrero Negro and travel to
San Ignacio Lagoon where we will do one Gray whale watching boat
trip. A late lunch will be eaten at the Lagoon and then we drive
to the town of San Ignacio where we will stay overnight. You will
have some free time to explore the local mission before or after
dinner. (B, L, D)
Day #9: This morning we drive from San Ignacio
to Loreto. Along the way we have time for some photo stops in the
desert and mountains. (B, L, D)
Day #10: Today is departure day. We make arrangements
to transport you to the airport for your return home flight. (B) |
Detailed
itinerary for 9 day trip
February 7 - 15
February 14 - 22
Day #1: The group members arrive in Loreto today. We meet your plane
and make the transfer to the El Dorado Hotel. The group usually meets for an
informal discussion about the coming 9 days around 5:00 PM and then we go to
dinner at 6:00 PM. (D)
Day #2: Whale watching for Blue whales off the coast of Loreto. Breakfast
at 7:00 a.m. and we arrive at the dock around 8:00 a.m. Since we are only a couple
blocks from the dock, most group members generally walk, but we can provide transportation
in the morning if needed. Today we whale watch until lunch. We expect to stop
for lunch on a small island around 1:00 p.m. and return to the dock following
lunch. (B, L, D)
Day #3: Whale watching for Blue whales off the coast of Loreto. Today
is a repeat of yesterdays activities. (B, L, D)
Day #4: Today is our scheduled desert exploration and visit to an ancient
and only recently discovered cave painting site. This serves as a “weather” day.
See separate note for detailed information about weather expectations on this
trip. (B, L, D)
Day #5: We leave Loreto and drive cross the Baja Peninsula to the town
of Guerrero Negro that is located adjacent to Laguna Ojo de Liebre. There will
be time along the way for one or two brief desert photo stops. We arrive in Guerrero
Negro in the early afternoon. (B, L, D)
Day #6 & 7: Breakfast at 7:00 am and we depart to our Gray whale
watching at Punta Mariscal at 8:00 am. Here we will do 2 boat trips out onto
Laguna Ojo de Liebre. (B, L, D)
Day #8: We leave Guerrero Negro and drive back to Loreto, arriving in
the early afternoon with time for wandering through the town shops before dinner.
(B, L, D)
Day #9: Today is departure day. We make arrangements to transport you
to the airport for your return home flight. (B)
Click here to view
Guide log
one day on the Sea of Cortez
by Keith Jones, March 2, 2011 |
Detailed
itinerary for 8 day trip February22 - 29
Day #1: The group members arrive in Loreto today.
We meet your plane and make the transfer to the El Dorado Hotel.
The
group usually meets for an informal discussion about the coming 8
days around 5:00 PM and then we go to dinner at 6:00 PM. (D)
Day #2: Whale watching for Blue whales off the coast
of Loreto. Breakfast at 7:00 a.m. and we arrive at the dock around
8:00 a.m. Since we are only a couple blocks from the dock, most group
members generally walk, but we can provide transportation in the
morning if needed. Today we whale watch until lunch. We expect to
stop for lunch on a small island around 1:00 p.m. and return to the
dock following lunch. (B, L, D)
Day #3: Whale watching for Blue whales off the coast
of Loreto. Today is a repeat of yesterdays activities. (B, L, D)
Day #4: We leave Loreto and drive cross the Baja Peninsula
to the town of Guerrero Negro that is located adjacent to Laguna
Ojo de Liebre. There will be time along the way for one or two brief
desert photo stops. We arrive in Guerrero Negro in the early afternoon.
(B, L, D)
Day #5 & 6: Breakfast at 7:00 am and we
depart to our Gray whale watching at Punta Mariscal at 8:00 am. Here
we will do 2 boat trips out onto Laguna Ojo de Liebre. (B, L, D)
Day #7: We leave Guerrero Negro and drive back to Loreto,
arriving in the early afternoon with time for wandering through the
town shops before dinner. (B, L, D)
Day #8: Today is departure day. We make arrangements
to transport you to the airport for your return home flight. (B)
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Detailed itinerary for 7 day trip February
Day #1: The group members arrive in Loreto today. We
meet your plane and make the transfer to the El Dorado Hotel. The
group usually meets for an informal discussion about the coming 7
days around 5:00 PM and then we go to dinner at 6:00 PM. (D)
Day #2: Whale watching for Blue whales off the coast
of Loreto. Breakfast at 7:00 a.m. and we arrive at the dock around
8:00 a.m. Since we are only a couple blocks from the dock, most group
members generally walk, but we can provide transportation in the
morning if needed. Today we whale watch until lunch. We expect to
stop for lunch on a small island around 1:00 p.m. and return to the
dock following lunch. (B, L, D)
Day #3: Whale watching for Blue whales off the coast of
Loreto. Today is a repeat of yesterdays activities. (B, L, D)
Day #4: We leave Loreto and drive cross the Baja Peninsula
to the town of Guerrero Negro that is located adjacent to Laguna
Ojo de Liebre. There will be time along the way for one or two brief
desert photo stops. We arrive in Guerrero Negro in the early afternoon.
(B, L, D)
Day #5: Breakfast at 7:00 am and we depart to our
Gray whale watching at Punta Mariscal at 8:00 am. Here we will do
2 boat trips
out onto Laguna Ojo de Liebre. (B, L, D)
Day #6: This morning your driver will take your bags while
you are at breakfast. Then your group will do one gray whale watching
boat trip before driving across the Peninsula to return to Loreto,
arriving in the late afternoon. (B, L, D)
Day #7: Today is departure day. We make arrangements
to transport you to the airport for your return home flight. (B)
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Blue
whale sightings – guide reports below---
Location: Loreto Marine Park These day trip logs were done by tow
of my guides leading whale watching on the Sea of Cortez side for
our blue whale trips and our combination blue whale and gray whale
trips. These logs are typical and representative of what we expect
on any day when we go out on the Sea of Cortez at Loreto. The
first row of guide logs were compiled by Amy Mackay who was the
boat guide
for these trips. I have transcribed her field notes from her notebook.
All dive times were rounded to the nearest minute, although Amy
kept
track of seconds. We believe that this log gives you a good representation
of the type of whale watching activity you can expect when coming
along on one of our Blue whale to Loreto trips.
Amy’s log book was much more detailed and included daily maps
showing where the various sightings took place. Send us an email
and we can provide additional guide logs for the Blue Whale trips.
The second row of trip logs was compiled by Amanda Goins during her
first season on the Sea of Cortez with Baja Jones. Both of these
guides have more than 5 years experience on whale watching boats
in the northern Pacific. Amanda is very knowledgeable about Humpback
whales in Alaskan waters and Amy with Orcas near British Columbia. |
Date:
February 20
Weather: Sunny, warm, moderate morning wind, slight chop to 2 feet.
Depart dock 9:10 AM
Return to dock 4:30 PM
Whale species observed and first contact time:
9:30 AM 1 blue whale: dive times 8 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes,
2 minutes & 2 minutes
10:10 AM 1 fin whale: dive times 7 minutes & 7 minutes
10:45 AM 1 humpback: We never saw it resurface
12:10 PM noon 2 blue whales: dive times 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 3
minutes, several other dives averaging 2 to 3 minutes.
4:15 PM 1 fin whale: dive times 3 minutes & 9 minutes
also at the same time
4:20 PM 1 blue whale: dive time 3 minutes
Please note that some of these
trip logs show very late return times. Our normal time
back to the dock is around 2:00 to 3:00 PM, but it may be earlier
if there is a
strong wind blowing. |
Date:
February 21
Weather: Sunny, warm, no morning wind, smooth water.
Depart from dock at 8:20 AM
Return to dock at 3:00 PM
Whale species observed and first contact time:
8:45 AM 1 humpback whale: dive times 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes,
5 minutes, 4 minutes, 4 minutes, 2 minutes, 2 minutes and 5 at 1 minute
each.
9:55 AM 1 blue whale: dive times 6 minutes, 7 minutes & 8 minutes.
10:24 AM unidentified whale : dived and didn’t reappear.
10:35 AM 1 Bryde’s whale: dive times 2 minutes, 8 minutes &
3 minutes
10:56 AM 1 humpback whale: dive time 6 minutes
12:30 PM Several blue whales: These whales were in the same general
area and between dives we would spot another blue whale and then follow
it. So we were probably observing 3 different blue whales during a
period of about 2 1/2 hours. Dive times 9 minutes, 6 minutes, 5 minutes,
5 minutes, 4 minutes, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes,
3 minutes, 8 minutes. |
Date:
February 22
Weather: Sunny, cool in the morning warming at noon, no morning wind,
small choppy water.
Depart from the dock 8:30 AM
Return to dock 6:00 PM
Whale species observed and first contact time:
9:00 AM blue whale: dive times 13 minutes, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 11
minutes, 11 minutes & 2 minutes
10:10 AM 1 humpback whale took 8 breaths then dived and stayed down
3:30.
10:12 AM 1 blue whale showed up while the humpback was down, so we
followed it. Dive times 1 minute, 4 minutes & 17 minutes.
10:15 AM 1 blue whale: We saw this whale, but stayed with the first
blue whale.
11:45 AM 1 humpback whale: This whale breached for us. Dive times
4 minutes, 5 minutes & 7 minutes.
We stopped at an offshore island for lunch and did some snorkeling
along the sandy/rocky shoreline.
3:00 PM 2 blue whales: We observed surface feeding behavior that included
rolling on their backs and their sides. Very exciting to see this.
4:15 PM 1 blue whale arrives as we are leaving the area |
Date:
February 27
Weather: Sunny, a little wind, small choppy water AM more choppy PM.
Depart from dock 9:00 AM
Return to dock 5:00 PM
Whale species observed and first contact time:
9:15 AM Common dolphins: we observed a large group of from 100 to
200 animals.
10:00 AM 2 blue whales: dive times 3 minutes, 4 minutes, 6 minutes
7 minutes & 5 minutes.
10:50 AM 2 blue whale adults plus mother and baby: Mother had white
on dorsal fin. Dive times 4 minutes, 8 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes
& 9 minutes.
2:00 PM 1 blue whale: Dive times 6 minutes & 9 minutes
3:50 PM 1 blue whale: dive times 8 minutes & 6 minutes.
3:55 PM 1 mother and baby pair appeared: dive times 3 minutes &
2 minutes. |
February 8, Tuesday:
10:00 Spot our first blow.
11:00 Recognize it is a fin whale, with an 11 min downtime
11:30 See a second fin whale
12:00 Wind dies down and we spot a blue whale. Has a 16 min downtime
February 11, Friday
9:00 Spot a blow and get a quick look at a Bryde’s whale. This
whale is being shy so we move on.
9:15 See two blows near shoreline of Isla Carmen. It is a fin whale
with a newborn! Fernando says it is so small must’ve been born
within past two-three weeks. This is good news for their research
as they had never seen such a young finback whale in the Sea of Cortez,
they weren’t sure if they were born here.
10:15 Another blow spotted proves to be a blue whale.
1:00 We stop for lunch on Isla Carmen and as we are eating a pod
of common dolphins swims by. |
February 12, Saturday
9:00 Three blows spotted. The one closer up proves to be a blue whale.
The blue whale is feeding so continues to circle in one area with
11 min downtimes. Great looks at this animal
9:30 A surprise fin whale pops up while we are waiting for the blue
whale to surface.
10:45 See another blow near Isla Carmen which proves to be another
blue whale. We stay close to our feeding blue whale that is giving
us such great looks.
12:00 Having moved on from our original blue whale, we head north
and encounter a fin whale with her calf. This calf is older and bigger
than the one from yesterday. Probably a yearling. The finbacks have
7 min down times
12:15 While we are waiting for the finback mother and calf to resurface
another blue comes up to breathe in the area. The blue has an interval
of 14 min downtime. For the rest of the afternoon we alternate between
the breathing cycles of the finbacks and the blue. Hardly a time
when one of them isn’t at the surface. |
February 15, Tuesday
8:25 We spot a blow off the north side of Isla Carmen. Due to size
of blow and location, boat captain Luis, informs us it is a Bryde’s
whale that has been hanging out in the area. This particular Bryde’s
whale has not been very friendly towards boats, swimming away and
having long dive times, so we do not approach and move on
8:55 Two blows spotted prove to be a finback whale and her calf
10:15 Another finback whale spotted
11:15 We see a larger blow that upon approach is a blue whale with
a 9 min interval diving cycle |
Wed 16, February
8:45 2 adult fin whales spotted traveling together
9:30 While observing the adult fin whales we spot a mother and calf
fin whale. We go over to check out mom and baby and the adult fin
whales converge onto travel path of cow/calf pair. Mom finback whale
is not too happy and gives a little roll of her fluke in the water
to chase off two adults away from her calf!
10:30 We investigate a blow further south that proves to be a blue
whale
11:30 While observing blue whale we see near Isla Danzante a fluke
rising above the ocean. It is a blue whale diving fluke up! Our boat
captains inform us that only about 25% of blue whales dive with their
fluke up. We approach this fluke up diver and get some great looks
at it’s fluke. Our local captains identify it as a whale they
know that comes back year after year.
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Gray whales,
Tigers, Elephants, Giant Panda Bears, Blue whales, Whale sharks, Narwhals
China, Canada, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Philippine Islands, Mexico,
Arctic Circle
copyright 2011, Keith Jones
No images may be used without written permission of copyright holder
Unique vacations normally involving animals, culture and adventure
keith@greywhale.com or rowman1998@yahoo.com
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