Fin whales, dolphins and almost a minke whale

The baleen whale season is still fully ongoing with fin whales, we had three whales, two adult and a juvenile, by our side. We also had a minke whale out there today and we went to the area, very close to the coast, but unfortunately we never found it. We do not see as many minke whales as blue whales, fin whales and sei whales during the spring migration so this would had been the first one of the year. Instead we got to see some wonderful bottlenose dolphins and a loggerhead turtle. And we started the tour with our resident and reliable common dolphins with lots of new born babies. So we had a great "schedule" today full of cetaceans. 

By the way, we are alomst on our blog-post nr 1000 :) Thank you all for your interest and for following us!

Photos from today:

One of the fin whale, notice the nick on the dorsal fin: this is what we use to identify the individuals

Fin whale surfacing

Three dorsal fins from bottlenose dolphins, perfect for ID-photos

Bottlenose dolphin

I can see 6 dolphins, how many can you spot?

Common dolphin juvenile

Aboard Cetus today

Pilot whale and fin whale encounters continue

Today we still have pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) and fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) around São Miguel Island. This group of pilot whales have now been around for a week. In the morning we saw about 10 of these pilot whales, just a fraction of the whole group that we have been seeing for the past week. After our pilot whale encounter we saw 2 fin whales. It's great to still have these whales around for a bit longer. This year we have had a great spring season!

The afternoon trip started with  2 fin whales, probably the same ones we have seen in the morning, but this time they were together with at least 2 more individuals. These 4 fin whales were really curious towards our boat, swimming in circles around us. At this point our lookout did not see any other species, so we tried our luck closer to the coast line. We approached the small volcanic islet of Vila Franca do Campo and we decided to start our way back. But it was right at the end when we saw a big group of birds flying around the same area. When we got closer we found a group of about 40 common dolphins feeding on mackerel, together with yellow-legged gull. Underwater footage of the dolphins feeding taken during the trip will be uploaded on our facebook page. It was an amazing show to end the trip!

Photos from the morning:

Fin whale breathing

Fin whale

Pilot whale

Pilot whale

Photos from the afternoon:

 The dorsal part of a fin whale

 Fin whale surfacing

 Our boat approaching the Vilafranca islet

Our boat close to the natural swimming-pool of the islet

 Red rock crab found on the islet

High-speed sailing catamaran

Fin whales, pilot whales and lots of dolphins

In the morning we had an extraordinary tour with 10-15 very curious fin whales around our zodiac. We, and another boat, were completely surrounded by the whales. We didn't know if we should look at the whale to the left of us, the ones behind approaching nicely or the ones under us. Even though we have whales closer to us once in a while, this was a unique moment because today there were so many that it was like being in the middle of a dolphin pod. We also encountered a species of dolphin called the pilot whale. They are still around, for the 6th day now. For sure, this was a moment none of us aboard will never forget! We also had a swimming with dolphins tour out there swimming with common dolphins.

In the afternoon we started with a loggerhead turtle. A bit later we encountered a large group of bottlenose dolphins, maybe around 80 dolphins, and later on the lovely pilot whales again. While we were looking for the pilot whales when they were diving two fin whales decided to make a visit. They were curious too, like the ones in the morning, swimming close to our zodiac and looking at them. We saw more blows further away and went there to see if it was another whale species or the same. It turned out to be a mother and a juvenile fin whale, giving us a total of 4 different fin whales in the afternoon.

Photos from the morning:

Fin whale underwater

Close up of the blowholes of the fin whale

Fin whale

Three out of 10 fin whales

Dorsal fin of the fin whale

A fin whale up-side-up and the fluke is sticking out of the water

Pilot whale

Photos from the afternoon:

Bottlenose dolphin

Watching bottlenose dolphins

Pilot whales

Pilot whale

Juvenile and adult fin whale

The juvenile fin whale

Fin whale head surfacing

Heading back to base (finally with some blue sky)

Pilot whales staying around São Miguel

Today we have enjoyed the company of bottlenose dolphins and common dolphins throughout the whole day. The group of bottlenose dolphins were very familiar to us, as it was a group that we have been observing here along the south coast of São Miguel Island for the past week or so. We could recognise several individuals in the group by their distinct dorsal fins. Form both dolphin species we observed mating behaviour and we also got to see some of their newborn calves from this year. Both species were close to shore, near Vila Franca Islet so that we could enjoy the sights of this natural reserve after our dolphin encounters. Our lookouts didn't spot any large whale species today, but our catamaran did come across a group of pilot whales right at the end of the afternoon, just when we were heading back to the marina. It was the same group that we first encountered here 5 days ago and have been seeing on and off since then. This group is made up of at least 20 individuals, including several males, calves and many females.

Photos from the morning:

Baby face (bottlenose dolphin)

Bottlenose dolphins - mother and calf

A very flexible bottlenose dolphin tail slapping

Eye to eye with a bottlenose dolphin

Notice how different each dorsal fin is

Common dolphins

Observing Vila Franca Islet

Vila Franca Islet

Photos from the afternoon:

Our zodiac boat with common dolphins

Common dolphins surfing the waves

Common dolphin

Enjoying the south coast of São Miguel Island

Vila Franca Islet

One final surprise for our catamaran - pilot whales (male on the left and female on the right)

Male pilot whale

Pilot whale - notice the curled tail flukes

The same group of pilot whales from the past days