Sei Whales Trip Report 2026
Trip 2.
Patagonia, Argentina
March 25 - 31, 2026
*This was an exploratory expedition, carried out under government permit, giving us rare access to these waters and the opportunity to document what we found.
March 26, 2026. Day One. Week Two.
We returned to the elephant seal ranch. We are having another weather day, although it doesn’t feel like it here.
The weather is beautiful, and the seas look flat and calm.
We are sitting here watching the elephant seals have a siesta. Every once in a while they move, stretch, yawn, or a juvenile tests boundaries.
The behavior is so different from the day before.
Yesterday the juveniles were play fighting and feeling super scrappy. Today… it is siesta time.
We have been sitting here for hours, just in awe, all feeling grateful to be here and experience this magic. No one else out here but us.
A total dream.
The seals forget we are here and just go on with their lives.
A few squabbles, but not much. The big males belting out cries of dominance, or practicing for the seasons ahead.
I love it out here, experiencing this.
I’m definitely in my happy place.
March 27, 2026. Day Two.
Woke up at the eco park, North Face’s rewilding lodge.
This one is in another part of the park.
We are here to photograph the Magellanic penguins.
Before we went, we stopped by a drying lake to photograph the flamingos, which was a nice treat.
Wasn’t expecting to see them.
Along the way, we drove through some stunning landscape. When you see it, you understand why the former owner of North Face wanted this area protected.
This landscape inspires.
We stopped to photograph some guanacos, front-lit by the sun.
We hit the penguin colony and had a good time shooting these wacky little water birds.
The colony here is smaller than Punta Tombo and Estancia San Lorenzo, but there are still a lot of penguins.
A highlight for me was watching a hairy armadillo cruise through the penguin colony.
I guess when the birds are nesting, these guys stroll through and steal eggs… and maybe chicks.
It was a good day, a lot of driving to get to these places, but definitely a good day.
March 28, 2026. Day 3
We are back out on the water, and damn… what a day.
No wind, flat conditions, and a lot of whales around.
We left right at sunrise and are out here looking for a player.
The visibility is still crappy but seems a bit better than previous days.
Right now we have sun and no clouds, so hopefully it holds.
It should help us see them.
We found whales quickly and tried a few jumps.
They were not interested, so we kept moving.
We found more… and then a couple of players.
Sei whales are different. When we find one that wants to interact, they circle the boat and make passes, over and over again.
Conditions are still amazing, and we have all had some really nice passes.
I finally got an okay headshot!
I dropped down, and the whale passed right in front of me. It twisted and turned quickly, I thought I scared it, but then it came back and made another pass.
Such amazing whales.
Bryde’s whales are very similar in how they interact with people.
We have been in and out of the water all morning.
We departed at 7:30am, and once we found our first whales, I haven’t taken off my mask and fins.
It’s just been going and going.
What an epic place. When the winds are up, this place is tough, and the ocean wants to kill you.
But today… she is all love.
We spent the day with a pair of very friendly, very curious whales.
They swam wide circles around us all day.
The water is still very silty, so I’m hoping that improves. But even with that… damn, what a good time.
It feels good being one of the very first people on the planet to do something like this.
What a dream.
We stayed out until about 1:30 and called it a day.
When we got back to port, the boys had a barbecue waiting for us… life is good!
Can’t wait for tomorrow.
March 29, 2026. Day Four.
Another beautiful morning. We went north today, there were reports of massive feeding activity yesterday, so we went to check it out.
We didn’t find any whales feeding, but we did run into a big pod of dusky dolphins and got some water time with them.
Duskys are notoriously friendly, and they were so much fun to swim with.
This was a new species for me.
They made several passes and played with us for a few minutes.
I wanted to stay with them, but I knew we needed to find whales for the boys.
Still hoping to see a Commerson’s dolphin, a unicorn species for me and a resident here.
We spent the rest of the time searching for whales.
We found a lot, but no players. All shy. No interest in the boat.
First day without an interactive whale.
Very different behavior today.
The last five days, they’ve been curious. Today… nothing.
We admitted defeat and called it a day.
March 30, 2026. Day five. Final day at sea.
Conditions are perfect. Flat calm, no wind, and a bright, clear sky.
We motored out and quickly found a whale.
Then Miguel spotted multiple blows in the distance, so we headed over and found a feeding aggregation of 10 plus whales, spread out but working the same area.
With the ocean this calm, all you hear are sei whale blows.
It’s beautiful.
And I know that sound will stay with me long after I leave.
The whales were feeding and we were in the water trying to figure out where they were going to surface.
The tiny lobsters were swarming about ten feet below the surface and the whales would drop down, open their mouths and fill up with the crustaceans.
I got lucky with one of the whales, I looked down and saw it coming up from the depths with a mouth full of food.
I fired away, hoping the images would come out okay.
Some of the whales, after feeding, stuck around to interact with us.
They made a lot of close passes. Like really close.
Our friend Sho got some epic images, shots I wish were mine.
I got some I’m very happy with, but he nailed a few that were next level.
We spent a solid two hours in the water.
They just kept circling us. It was non-stop.
That’s what makes these whales special. When they decide to interact, you don’t chase them. You stay still, and they come to you.
That’s the magic.
Today was easily one of my best wildlife days ever.
This whole thing was a gamble, an exploratory trip for a species like this.
It’s never been done before.
But I trusted my guides and captains, and it paid off.
Huge thanks to my friends for trusting me… and to the crew who made this happen.
There are so few firsts left in the world.
To be part of one… was just magic!
This was all done under government permit.
We did it right, and we learned a lot about the third-largest whale in the ocean.
It took work. We all paid our dues.
It wasn’t easy.
But every second was worth it.
On the way back to port, we stopped at a South American sea lion colony for a quick snorkel.
At first, it didn’t look like much.
But the second we got in the water… they came.
All of them.
It was game on.
We spent an hour swimming with them. They were everywhere.
Two massive males joined in, they were very curious. I admit hanging out with two massive bull sea lions is a bit unnerving.
But it was so much fun!
I was the last one out of the water.
The sea lions followed me all the way back to the boat.
I told everyone to scoot over… I was bringing friends home.
This trip was so good, I am already looking forward to next season!
Because we will be back.
If you’d like to share your thoughts on this trip, you can leave a comment below… We’d love to hear from you.