Sperm whales in the east and dolphins jumping high

Hoje tivemos três barcos que partiram para a viagem de dia inteiro, que inclui a observação de baleias e golfinhos na parte da manhã, almoço em Vila Franca do Campo e snorkeling no Ilhéu de Vila Franca no período da tarde. Também tivemos barcos apenas para a observação de baleias e golfinhos e barcos para a natação com golfinhos. Na parte da manhã tivemos um grupo de cachalotes um pouco longe, a leste, e eles não estavam em alimentação não efectuando mergulhos profundos para que nós conseguíssemos ver muitas barbatanas caudais, mas mesmo assim foi um encontro maravilhoso. Também encontramos golfinhos comuns. Na parte da tarde as baleias estavam muito longe para nós irmos até lá, mas tivemos um grande grupo de golfinhos roazes e comuns com muitas crias. Os golfinhos deram um espectáculo especial com alguns, saltos maravilhosos (ver fotos).

Today we had three boats leaving for the Full day tour, which includes whale watching in the morning, lunch in Vila Franca do Campo and snorkeling in Vila Franca Islet in the afternoon. We also had whale watching boats out there throughout the day and swimming boats. In the morning we had a sperm whale group far to the east, and they were not really in the mode of feeding and deep dives so we didn't get to see many tails ,but still they were wonderful. We also encountered common dolphins. In the afternoon the whales were too far away for us to go there as they went further east, but we had a large group of bottlenose dolphins and common dolphins with many new born babies. The bottlenose dolphins gave a special treat with some high, marvelous jumps (see photos).

Fotos da manhã:
Photos from the morning:

Cachalote com uma linha branca no topo da sua cabeça

Sperm whale with a white strip on top of its head

Cachalote a mergulhar

Sperm whale diving

Song of Whales

Our 3 zodiacs out on the water

Two of our boats for the full day tour, with Vila Franca islet in the background

Fotos da tarde:
Photos from the afternoon:

Um presente de um golfinho roaz

A gift from a bottlenose dolphin

Photos from the full day tour:

Lunch in Vila Franca Islet

Vila Franca Islet

A beautiful crater lagoon inside the ocean

Snorkeling in the clear waters of the lagoon

Ornatte wrasse (Thalassoma pavo)

Blue damselfish (Abudefduf luridus)

Spot the pufferfish (Sphoeroides mamoratus)

Common tern on the islet, feeding its chicks

Red rock crabs (Grapsus adsecnsionis)

Fin whale and sperm whales

The trip in the morning started with a group of common dolphins in a flat sea. After these dolphins, we went far from the coast, trying to find a whale... it wasn't easy because the visibility for our lookouts wasn't good , but after a long trip of waiting our skipper Rui suddenly shouted... WHALE!!! It was a fin whale right in front of us! it was a juvenile, really calm, surfacing around our boat. On our way back we had another beautiful surprise, we met a small group of Risso's dolphins. Meanwhile, the boat for the full day tour (that includes a visit to Vila Franca Islet) found a group of Atlantic spotted dolphins. We finished the tour with a large group of bottlenose dolphins. At the first they were divided into two different groups, but after a while we could enjoy how these groups were joined together.

This afternoon we had an interesting encounter with at least 8 sperm whales which were surrounded by a group of curious bottlenose dolphins. The sperm whales didn't look too comfortable with the dolphins around and seemed to be avoiding them. Eventually the dolphins left the sperm whales alone and we could have some time alone with the whales. In the end one whale turned very curious and went underwater close to us and resurfaced just a few meters in front of us. What a good look we got at the largest head in the world! We also had a lovely encounter with common dolphins, a loggerhead turtle, a white marlin and even a great skua.

Photos from the morning:

 Fin whale

 Fin whale around São Miguel

 Risso's dolphins

Bottlenose dolphins close to the coast

Photos from the afternoon:

Two sperm whale and a dolphin in between

Two bottlenose dolphin and a sperm whale

Two bottlenose dolphins

The curious sperm whale

Watching the curious sperm whale that surfaced just in from of the bow of our catamaran

Common dolphin

Common dolphin

Great skua

Aboard Cetus

A day with our residents

We spent this morning with our resident species: sperm whales, Risso's dolphins, bottlenose dolphins and common dolphins. The sea was flat as a mirror, but grey sky and it felt like the sky and the sea was one. It was beautiful. We resighted the sperm whale from earlier, the one we call Wenea. See the photo below of this whale diving. In the afternoon the whales were too far away for us to get to, so we stayed around a large and playful group of bottlenose dolphins and later on common dolphins. We also had encounters with a hammerhead shark, a white marlin, and a shy loggerhead turtle that just kept diving and didn't want to show its cute face. 

Photos from the morning:

A whale called Wenea diving

Common dolphins

Common dolphins pooing

Common dolphins

Common dolphins

Jellyfish (mauve stinger)

Sperm whale logging

Wenea

Our sperm whale "Kima"

Risso's dolphins

Cetus

Photos from the afternoon:

Perfect ID photos of a bottlenose dolphin

Our swimming boat with bottlenose dolphins

Five bottlenose dolphins next to Cetus

White marlin jumping