The trip finally begins… and well, no point stringing you guys along, we got skunked. Yup, the orcas were a no-show for us. They were seen today, just not anywhere near where we were. They found two pods of orcas today, one near San Jose, and the other pod was seen off La Paz. Both pods were far from where we were looking, especially La Paz. It was about 4 hours away from us.

Hoping for a better day tomorrow, and I feel really good about our chances for successful encounters. Today we did have a few Mobula ray encounters. The moment we left the marina and hit the open ocean, a large school of mobulas was there. Individuals were popcorning all over the place. Since it was the first day, our group wanted to jump in and test out weights and their camera settings with the large school of mobulas. I stayed on the boat, trying to capture images of the rays jumping out of the water.

We didn’t stay with them very long as everyone was itching to find some orcas. Well, you guys know how our day went. It was long and hot and a whole lot of nothing as we motored for hours trying to find the elusive pod. But that is what this is all about. If the animals were easy to find, there would be a circus of boats out here with them. So thankfully, there is a challenge to it, making the encounters with them so much sweeter when they happen. I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Towards the end of the day, we encountered a breaching humpback whale mom and calf, which was wild because this is the wrong time of the season for humpback whales here off Baja. They are supposed to be gone. We watched them for a little while, then called it a day, all of us exhausted from the sun but happy to be out on the ocean, where we belong.

Already looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow because it is going to be a great day… I can feel it!

Thank you for reading and I hope to see you out in the world… somewhere… anywhere!