Surrounded by whales

Today we have many large whales south of São Miguel Island. In the morning we encountered at least 5-6 whales very close to Ponta Delgada where our tours depart from. We encountered 3 fin whales that were travelling together and came across at least two other fin whales and perhaps a couple of sei whales. Basically we were seeing large whale blows all around us and it was difficult to keep track of which whale was which and exactly how many of them there were out there. We also encountered some nice groups of common dolphins to complete the tour.

In the afternoon we resighted a small group of common dolphins close to Ponta Delgada. Further to the west we encountered a group about 25 bottlenose dolphins that we recognised from the past few weeks. Upon searching further offshore we also spotted the blow of a baleen whale, but the whale went under before we could see exactly which species it was and we never got to see it again. However, on our way back to shore we did spot a tiny little loggerhead turtle that was swimming together with a fish.

Fin whale head surfacing - notice the white jaw which is a distinguishing characteristic of this species

Fin whale

Fin whale

Common dolphin showing the distinct yellow colour on its sides

Jumping is fun!

Cory's shearwater

 Common dolphins (adult and juvenile) and a cory´s shearwater flying over them

 Our skipper Mario talking with our clients this morning

 Botlenose dolphin in front of one of our boats

 Our biologist Albert making a video of a loggerhead turtle

Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) swimming with a strange fish under it

Bottlenose dolphin

Our skipper Veríssimo

Dolphin adventures

This morning we had an adventurous ride on two of our zodiac boats. The tour started with an encounter with a small group of common dolphins that were hanging around a mackerel fishing boat just outside of Ponta Delgada where we depart from. There were several small groups of common dolphins spread throughout the area and they appeared to be hunting. Further to the west we encountered a well known group of bottlenose dolphins that we have been seeing here regularly over the past few months. We recognised several individuals in the group from their distinct dorsal fins (we photograph them to keep track of the individuals we see here).

Now for the afternoon the sun has come out so that our clients can enjoy the rest of the day exploring the beautiful island of São Miguel.

Bottlenose dolphins playing in the waves

Bottlenose dolphins

Our skipper Mario

Our biologist Ida showing a bucket full of barnacles we picked up from the water

 Detail of the gooseneck barnacles (Lepas anatifera) living on the bucket

Common dolphins

Loggerhead turtle

Fishing boat

A beautiful spring day with dolphins

This morning we went out on the ocean in full sunshine and enjoyed the company of a group of common dolphins followed by 2 different groups of bottlenose dolphins. Two of our boats were observing while our third boat was swimming with the dolphins. The swimmers were lucky to be able to swim with both species of dolphins during the morning. We hope the great weather and sightings continue as we to full swing into the spring months.

 Our swimming boat with bottlenose dolphins

Bottlenose dolphins




Our boat Alfredo Baleeiro


Our biologist Maite showing pictures of the species we sighted

 Cory's Shearwater flying close to us

Fin whales everywhere

Today was one of those busy days on the sea when you don't know where to look because there are whales in all directions. We had at least three fin whales out there, and three species of dolphins: common dolphin, bottlenose dolphin and Risso's dolphin. The sea was flat and calm and the air warm. With one of the fin whales we had an interesting note as it had a group of  bottlenose dolphins playing around it, or maybe annoying it. As a result we got to see a part of the whale's fluke coming up in the air. A beautiful display, but it makes you wonder what is going on, what is the whale thinking, and the dolphins? What were the dolphins doing around the whale?

Photos from today:

Fin whale

One of our whale watching boats

Common dolphin

Blue whale, fin whales, sperm whales and dolphins

This morning the blue whales returned once again to the waters of São Miguel. We had a great sighting to prove that spring has arrived and with it, baleen whales. Shortly after leaving the marina in Ponta Delgada we arrived to an area where our lookout had spotted blows from whales. We saw several blows and footprints (smooth patches of water created by a whale's flukes) however the whales were frequently diving and changing direction, and unfortunately we did not see the bodies well enough to identify the species. Later in the office after talking to our lookout we could confirm that they were in fact two fin whales.

To our delight our lookout spotted another blow 6 miles away, after 30 minutes of travelling we arrived at the area to investigate. The whale surfaced several times in front of our boats and from the blue/grey colouration and spots on the body combined with the high vertical blow we immediately identified it as a blue whale. We can now confirm from our blue whale photo ID catalogue she is a female that was last seen in the São Miguel on April 21st 2010. This is our first ever match for this species! Other marine life sighted this morning include a young Loggerhead turtle approximately 5 years of age.

In the afternoon we saw a sperm whale group of 6 individuals together with bottlenose dolphins. It is always interesting to see different species interacting with each other. There were some well-known flukes and fins among both the whales and the dolphins, we had two female sperm whales "Small u" and "Orca", and in the bottlenose dolphin group we recognised and individual we call "Egípcio".

Photos from the morning:

A blue whale just about to surface

A blue whale tall blow

Blue whale and São Miguel Island

Looking at blue whale footprints

Unidentified baleen whale, which later was identified as fin whale by the look of the blow and dorsal fin. The second largest animal in the world.

Photos from the afternoon:

One of the six sperm whales we saw in the afternoon

A bottlenose dolphin together with a sperm whale

A sperm whale spyhopping, showing its head with the white lower jaw

A sperm whale we recognise (we call her orca) together with a juvenile

A curios sperm whale pair turning to one of our boats

Impressive bottlenose dolphin jumps

A bottlenose dolphin we call Egíptio jumping

A bottlenose dolphin we call Egíptio because of its strange shaped dorsal fin

 Bottlenose dolphins surrounding one of our bats

 Cory's shearwater eating a scabbard fish