Eight species in a day! Today has been a great day out at sea - this morning we had a fantastic sighting of two fin whales, an unexpected species as usually large baleen whales like these are seen in the springtime when they are migrating north for the summer - our last sighting was back in May. During the trip we also saw sperm whales, common, striped, Atlantic spotted and bottlenose dolphins... six species in total!

Watching a passing fin whale

The afternoon trips were eventful - pilot whales joined the list of sightings and were especially friendly. A sperm whale calf seemed to be enjoying spending time with them at the surface while they swam over and around the individual rolling around playfully.

Sperm whale calf and pilot whales socialising

For our eighth cetacean species of the day, one of our dolphin swimming trips spent time with a large group of Risso's dolphins this afternoon.. and were temporarily joined by a flying fish which flew into one of the crew members aboard the boat - a closer encounter than most of our guests had expected!

Looking down on bow-riding Atlantic spotted dolphins

Big male sperm whale!

The highlight of today was a very big sperm whale that was in the area. We had a few other sperm whales around too, but we ended up watching the big male between its deep long dives that lasted up to 73 minutes in duration. This morning we also saw common dolphins while in the afternoon we had a great encounter with a mixed group of striped dolphins and Atlantic spotted dolphins.

It's always an amazing experience to be able to see all these animals which unfortunately face a lot of threats today. One of these threats is entanglement in objects like nets, ropes and plastic. We like to help when we can by removing such items from the water. Today we pulled out a huge rope (shown in the picture below) which had a diameter of about 15cm, a length of more than 20m and a weight of at least 100kg! Eliminating such potential threats can make a huge difference so that we can continue to enjoy the dolphins, whale and other marine life.

Welcome to the Azorean summer

We are well and truly experiencing the Azorean summer now! Over the past week we have had some really great hot days with calm seas that have been perfect for our whale watching and dolphin swimming tours. During this busy week we have had encounters with many sperm whales, pilot whales, Risso's dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, common dolphins, striped dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins, turtles, and even a marlin. It was a particular bonus this week to see the Atlantic spotted dolphins arrive here on Friday for the first time this year. Now we can expect them to stick around for the rest of the summer while the water is nice and warm. We are looking forward to the many more great summer days to come.

Another beautiful sunny day in São Miguel.. And we can know be sure that summer is here to stay as yesterday the Atlantic spotted dolphins arrived! We only see this species during the summer months when the water is warmer, usually 20ºC or above, so it's very exciting to have our first sighting.

We also had a reminder of how careful we should be with our litter when we recently came across an immature loggerhead turtle with a plastic bag wrapped around its flipper. Luckily for this individual we were able to stop and remove the rubbish but many turtles aren't so fortunate - rubbish in the oceans, especially plastic, can be incredibly dangerous to marine life. It was an opportunity to remind everyone on board of the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling our waste before this little guy was happily released back into the water to continue basking in the sunshine..

Sperm whale group socialising!

Today was another great day at sea in São Miguel. Today we saw sperm whales, Risso's dolphins and common dolphins. The sperm whales were socialising throughout the day, so we got to see many of them on the surface together. Some of us were lucky to see one of the whales sticking its head out of the water (spyhopping) and another rolling on its side to show part of its tail above the water. In the morning we counted 7 whales side by side, and in the afternoon 4, including a very small calf. The calf looked like it was very young, possibly close to newborn which is when they are only 4 metres long. We also saw many common dolphin calves, including some that were recently born as they still had skin folds. Here are some photos of today's sperm whales:

Video of whale watching and dolphin swimming with Futurismo

Have a look at this great video kindly shared by Toni Poikeljärvi, one of our recent whale watching customers. It's always great to receive such good feedback, thank you Toni!

The real summer has finally arrived to the Azores! The past few days have been just perfect to go to sea. The sea has been calm and clear, the water is warming up and we have had some great sightings. Over the past few days we have been seeing sperm whales, pilot whales, common dolphins, striped dolphins, Risso's dolphins and many other species like loggerhead turtles, a leatherback turtle, sunfish, sharks and many bird species. The following photos are just a small sample of the many great sightings we have had off São Miguel island over the past few days.

Loggerhead turtle in crystal clear water

Pilot whale mother and calf

Sperm whale with two of our boats in the background

Pilot whale

Common dolphins bowriding with one of our semi-rigid boats

Striped dolphins

Discovering Sete Cidades in São Miguel Island

These are some of the photos taken during one of our walking tours to Sete Cidades yesterday. As well as our whale watching and dolphin swimming tours we also run jeep safaris and walking tours to various parts of the island. Although the morning yesterday started off a bit foggy and drizzly it soon cleared up as we made our descent down to the twin lakes of Sete Cidades. Our clients got to enjoy the amazing views as we made our way around one of the lakes to a picnic site where we enjoyed a relaxed lunch out in nature. During the end of the afternoon we went to Ferraria which is a special place where volcanic activity heats the sea water so that you can bathe and relax in the natural pool along this part of the coast. This is just one of the many tour options that we offer to show people the beautiful islands of the Azores.

A beautiful day on the sea with 5 species of dolphins and whales

Today was one of those beautiful days where the sea was perfectly flat and clear with barely any wind. It made for perfect conditions to spot and view dolphins and whales on our tours today. We were lucky that there were a lot of animals around today. In the morning we had a tour on our new catamaran "Cetus" and had some great encounters with sperm whales, pilot whales, rissos dolphins, bottlenose dolphins and common dolphins. On this tour we got to see many sperm whale females and calves as well as some amazing jumps from the risso's dolphins. The afternoon was just as good as on this tour we got to see an exeptionally high tail from one of our resident sperm whales, a very small pilot whale calf and a very friendly group of common dolphins swimming close to our boat in the crystal clear waters.

Some of the curious common dolphins swimming alongside our boat during the afternoon tour

Pilot whale calf swimming close to its mother

One of the sperm whales we sighted throughout the day

Today was an exciting day for crew and passengers alike as we took one of our first trips on our new catamaran "Cetus"! With plenty of space to move around and the opportunity to view the animals from different viewing spots on the boat meant everyone had a fantastic chance to see the whales and dolphins.

Our coastal vigia spotted sperm whales not too far from shore, so we spent time with a group of females and calves as they socialised and dived to feed. One of our biologists Miranda took this great shot of one of the whales diving.

Other species included bottlenose dolphins, common dolphins and striped dolphins in the morning, and Cory's shearwaters flying alongside the boats. A great day to have one of our first days out on the water with "Cetus" - especially with the new open layout of the boat's bow so we can look down on the dolphins bow-riding.

May sighting statistics

The month of May was another good one for whale watching in São Miguel. This month we saw 9 cetacean species:

• Common dolphins (Delphinus delphis)


• Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)


• Striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba)


• Rissos dolphins (Grampus griseus)


• Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus)


• Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae)


• Blue whales (Baleanoptera musculus)


• Sei whales (Baleanoptera borealis)


• Fin whales (Baleanoptera physalus)

This month is also off to a good start so far. In the past 2 days we have already seen sperm whales, bottlenose dolphins, common dolphins and Rissos dolphins!

Today in São Miguel we were very lucky that it turned out to be one of those perfect days of great weather, clear calm seas and great sightings. Today we had encounters with sperm whales, bottlenose dolphins, striped dolphins and common dolphins. The forecast for tomorrow is for another calm day, so we are looking forward to more sucessful whale watching tours.

Two mother and calf pairs of common dolphins swimming alongside our boat this afternoon

Common dolphin

One of the many sperm whales see today

Photos from some of our passengers last week

Here are some photos kindly shared by two of our passengers from last week. The first photo of a sperm whale diving was taken by Ola Rönnerup (who also contributed the great bubble-blowing crab photos in our last blog post). The second photos of a blue whale sighted here last week were taken by Maarten Groot. We always appreciate feedback from our customers and are always very glad to receive photos from their experiences. Thank you to Ola and Maarten.

Sperm whale diving - Photo taken by Ola Rönnerup

Blue whale - Photo taken by Maarten Groot

Blue whale diving - Photo taken by Maarten Groot

These are just some of our sightings of what is turning out to be a great season. We are already having many sperm whales sightings, including today in both the morning and afternoon. We are looking forward to many more great tours to come.

crab blowing bubbles

So the other day a client, Ola Rönnerup, came in with these photos showing a crab blowing bubbles asking us if we know what it was up to. Being so much into cetaceans I am afraid that our decapod knowledge might have slipped a bit behind, however, we soon found out that crabs do this to aerate their gills and to keep them moist. Cool! Thanks Ola.

Above is a photo of one of the two fin whales that was seen off the coast of São Miguel during our whale watching tour this afternoon. Although the sea was choppy today we still managed to get some good looks at the two large fin whales, aswell as two sperm whales and a group of bottlenose dolphins this morning.

Today was the third day in a row that we had very calm seas here in São Miguel. This makes it easier to spot whales and gives great viewing conditions for our observations. Throughout the day we could see over 50 nautical miles, which meant that our vigias (onshore watchmen) spotted sperm whales about 28 miles off the coastline. It wasn't just sperm whales that we saw. In both the morning and afternoon we also saw common dolphins, and in the afternoon we had a bonus sighting of 2 fin whales. All of our sightings were excellent and benefited from the great water visibility. Here are some photos taken during today's tours:

Sperm whale raising its tail to go on a deep dive

Sperm whale mother and calf pair

One of the 2 fin whales we saw this afternoon

A perfect day on the sea

Today was another beautiful clear, calm and warm day which made for great conditions for whale and dolphin watching. The sea was as flat as a mirror and very clear down to at least 20 meters. Throughout this perfect day we had sightings of sperm whales, common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins. All of these animals were very close to shore, just outside of Ponta Delgada where our tours depart from. It couldn´t have been much better today. Throughout the day we got to see several female sperm whales with their small calves. We saw several of the sperm whales bringing up their great tails to go on their deep dives, and a lot of very sociable dolphins. The bottlenose dolphins that we saw during the afternoon were particularly memorable as it was a very large active group in which all the dolphins were travelling together with our boat. We are expecting more great weather this weekend, so we are anticipating more great sightings in the coming days.

Watching bottlenose dolphins from our catamaran

Bottlenose dolphin - one of our resident species in the Azores

Female sperm whale raising its tail to go on a dive

Today we had another great day of whale watching in São Miguel island. We were very lucky to have very calm and clear water today with plenty of dolphins and whales around throughout the day. During the morning we saw 4 species: sperm whales, a blue whale, common dolphins, and one lone bottlenose dolphin. Although the sperm whales were a bit difficult to observe in the morning, the blue whale sighting was very good. It may have been one of the blue whales that we saw yesterday. By looking at the photos from both days we will be able to tell whether it is the same individual.


The afternoon trip was also successful with more sperm whale sightings and plenty of time with a sociable group of common dolphins. This time the sperm whales were more approachable so we saw a few tails and a small calf. A loggerhead turtle was a bonus on the way home!

Blue whales in São Miguel today

This morning we were very lucky to have our first blue whale sighting of the month in São Miguel island. We had not seen blue whales since the middle of last month, so it was a really nice surprise for us and our passengers to see these incredible animals passing by on their north-bound migration. They were both very large individuals, and we were lucky to have very clear water so that we could see their full body length under the water before they came up to breathe. We were even lucky enough to see one of the whales raise its tail to go on a dive, something which we do not see very often from this species. Here are some photos from the whales seen on this tour: