LA ORCA DE SAYULITA – Sayulita's first pure whale watch and whale research company.
This is who we are
Few Words About Us
La orca de sayulita
Sayulita’s first pure whale watch and whale research company. We offer a non-invasive, environmentally conscious option for whale watching in Sayulita.
We use the whale watch boat as a platform to study the whales of the region. Our aim is to put Sayulita on the map for whale research. We respect and love whales, and want to share our knowledge and passion.
All our guides are trained in biology, and engaged in whale research. If you would like any particular guide or captain, please request them and we will do our best.
Our name “La Orca de Sayulita” originates from the Spanish words… OBSERVA (observe), RESPETA (respect), CONSERVA (conserve) and AYUDA (help).
We want to make sure that whale watching in Sayulita is of a high quality, respectful of both the animals and whale watching regulations, and that some of the money spent on whale watching goes back directly to help the whales!
Our Mission....
We hope to inspire a passion within you, so that you go away to be life long ambassadors for humpback whales and other whale species !
We the Team
We also train young biologist/ocean lovers who want to start a career in whale research.
Nico
(Manager/Whale researcher)
Nico has worked with whales in Alaska, Australia, the Azores (Portugal), Canada, the Cook Islands, Ecuador, El Salvador, Japan, Peru, the Philippines, Mozambique, and 20 seasons in Mexico! She has a MSc in Marine Science, a BSc in Zoology, and a PhD on the humpback whales of Nayarit. Her primary research focuses on behavioural and migration ecology of large whales and management and mitigation against anthropogenic threats. She helps run a research project in El Salvador and is involved in several other research projects worldwide.
Additionally, Nico has a drone pilots licence, she is certified in marine first aid (RYA 2015), she is a qualified MMO and PAM for offshore industries, and speaks English, Spanish, and is trying to learn Portuguese. She is regularly publishing research in international peer review journals, and has been featured in multiple articles in the main stream press, documentaries and was the invited scientist on an episode of BBC Blue Planet Live/Now.
Her passion for whales, sense of humor and knowledge has led her to be nominated for several tour guides awards, and although now focusing more on research trips, you can take a VIP trip with her, request her on a private trip or she may be your guide by chance. Happy to be out on the water everyday of the season, she has encountered many of the world’s rarest cetaceans, and is lucky enough to have had many incredible whale encounters including an afternoon with the famous albino humpback whale “Migaloo”.
Angel and CHINGALIN
(Whale Watch Captains)
We are very lucky to have as our main captains Angel and Chingalin, two brothers who are some of Sayulita’s best and most renowned fisherman. Born and bred in Sayulita, they have spent their lives out on the ocean off the coast of the town, and know everything there is to know about the ocean and marine-life in the area; they are also pretty funny too!
Both experienced whale watching captains, with a special talent for spotting whales far away on the horizon that no one else can see, a great amount of the success of our tours is due to their knowledge, skill, personalities and enthusiasm
Esteban
Biologist/Acoustics Expert (Researcher/Tour Guide)
Esteban is a Colombian biologist who has been working with whales in the scientific and tourist areas for ten years. His first steps as a guide and researcher were made in Peru where he met Nico. He then started his own tourism and research platform in the isolated coasts of the Colombian Pacific. More recently he spends a large part of his year in Antarctic guiding research expeditions. as well as in the South Pacific Islands, Norway and the Arctic.
Esteban currently leads and accompanies several projects of international alliances to study the cultural evolution of humpback whale songs. He has authored several publications in peer review journals and is working at the international level in acoustic research of humpback whales.
Roxy
Biologist-in-training (Tour Guide/Research Assistant)
Roxy has always had a passion for animals, from a very young age. Soon she will be a licensed marine biologist, as she is in the final year of her studies at the local Marine Science College of Banderas Bay, El Instituto Tecnológico de Bahía de Banderas (ITBB). She has been an environmental educator of the Sayulita Turtle Camp since 2020, where she is one of the lead conservationists and has been with La Orca working as a research assistant and tour guide since 2022. She has a kind and beautiful energy and has a natural gift for sharing her wildlife knowledge. When not out on the ocean, at the turtle camp, studying or dancing, she is also a full-time mum of a gorgeous baby girl.
Janneth
Biologist (Research Assistant/Guide)
This year we are very happy to welcome back Janneth (who was an intern last year) as a full member of La Orca team. She has recently graduated with a degree from the University of Guadalajara and has now left the big city for the ocean life of Sayulita. She is currently working on producing the first photo-identification Catalog of the whales of Sayulita . Also a turtle lover, she volunteered at the Mayto Turtle Camp between 2017 and 2020. A naturally dedicated and curious person, she finds joy in exploring the ocean, connecting with nature and sharing her passion for whales with our guests.
Andrea
Biologist (Researcher/Guide)
Andrea was probably a whale in another life. In 2018 she became an official groupie for the humpback whales that migrate between Mexico and the United States, working with two research centers: La Orca de Sayulita (Nayarit, Mexico) and Monterey Bay Whale Watch Center (California, US).
She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Conservation and Ecology, because her love for whales comes with a serious commitment to the entire marine ecosystem. She considers herself an ally of the oceans, from the smallest plankton to the most gigantic cetacean.
Andrea speaks English, French and Spanish. If you look for her, you will probably find her on the high seas, screaming with excitement (with love and scientific respect) every time a whale appears.
Mayra
Biologist (Researcher/Guide)
Growing up on the beach in San Pancho has given Mayra a strong connection to the ocean and everything that lives in it. Through this she decided to study Marine Biology at the University of Guadalajara where she has learned more about the oceans in a variety of different ways, from organizing volunteer projects for beach and river cleanups to monitoring kelp forests in Baja California. She also speaks fluent English, Spanish and Italian. A few years ago, she started to work with La Orca de Sayulita and discovered a new passion: WHALES!. She is deeply grateful to be able to work with and learn from Nico and the rest of the team, and excited for everything the future holds. Presently Mayra is conducting an important study into calf survival through their first year of life and plans to continue in whale research and make it her lifelong career.
Marcel
Researcher/Photographer
Marcel is our friendly Brazilian photographer and whale researcher. After climbing 5600m in the Andes snowy mountains, Marcel first went to the high seas in 2013 where he fell in love with marine mammals after seeing his first humpback whale in Abrolhos, on the Brazilian coast.
Since then he has spent five years dedicated to the study of cetaceans in Latin America. He has been in Ecuador for four years in a row collaborating on humpback whale research, one season in Chile in search of fin whales, a season in Peru. This will be his fifth season in Mexico, split between the great blue whales and the gentle grey whales in Baja California and the humpbacks whales and orcas of Sayulita. Marcel is currently focused on raising funds for small but relevant cetacean research and conservation projects off the Brazilian coast.