We go the extra mile to see whales

Today we started with many dolphins to the east of Ponta Delgada in the morning and we ended with sperm whales far to the west of São Miguel island. First, in the morning we encountered several groups of common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins. They are always delightful to see and made all our customers very happy. A few lucky people that went on one of our swimming with dolphins tour in the morning had the rare chance to see common dolphins travelling together with yellowfin tuna. Not many are lucky enough to ever see this with their own eyes beneath the surface! For the people on another swimming boat that went out earlier they got to have an underwater encounter with a loggerhead turtle.

In the afternoon one of our vigias (onshore lookouts) did an excellent job of spotting a group of sperm whales very far to the west, about 30 km off the coastline. It's not easy work to spot whales so far away, but we have some very skilled vigias working with us! It took us a while to get to the area, but it was well worth the travelling over a calm ocean to finally reach a group of at least 5 or 6 sperm whales, including a calf. On our way back we also encountered a very active group of Atlantic spotted dolphins that played in our bow waves for a while. And finally, we also spotted several flying fish on the way back, not long before returning to Ponta Delgada.

Photos from the swimming:

Leaving early when the light is still morning light

Swimmers and bottlenose dolphins

Photos from this morning:

Common dolphin

Bottlenose dolphin

A familiar bottlenose dolphin we know well from its broken top jaw

Our swimming boat pulling a large fishing net out of the water - this entangles marine life and is a big killer!

Photos from this afternoon:

Sperm whale logging at the surface

Another sperm whale

Playful Atlantic spotted dolphins leaping next to our boat

Atlantic spotted dolphin (juvenile) wave leaping

One of our marine biologists describing our sightings

Enjoying the beautiful coastal views of São Miguel Island on the way back

A calm day with dolphins

Today was a beautiful calm day which we spent watching some great groups of common dolphins in really nice light. One of our groups started early this morning for a special swimming with dolphins program. They will be here for a week, enjoying the company of dolphins underwater in their natural environment - the best way to swim with them! The rest of us got to watch from above water, getting some really nice looks at both bottlenose dolphins and common dolphins. In the afternoon we went out with only our catamaran, to the west of São Miguel Island. We encountered 3 different groups of bottlenose dolphins along the way and had really nice calm ocean the whole way. Along the way back we enjoyed nice views of the island and enjoyed spotting several flying fish along the way.

Photos from today:

A curious bottlenose dolphin approaching us

Sometimes the bottlenose dolphins repeatedly surface very high out of the water

Our swimming boat from the morning

Enjoying the coastal views from the catamaran

The west end of São Miguel Island

Flying fish

Baby dolphins in crystal clear water

In crystal clear water we were surrounded by dolphins today, both common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins. In the group of the bottlenose dolphins there was one small baby swimming around among all the big adults. Bottlenose dolphins are large dolphins growing up to four meters. Among the common dolphins there were many babies. We also saw loggerheads turtles throughout the day. We also visited Vila Franca Islet and go to see the buzzards hunt some rock pigeons, and we got a little surprise from a little egret flying around. 

Photos from today:

Bottlenose dolphins surfacing together

  

Common dolphin leaping alongside Cetus

Loggerhead turtle

Vila Franca Islet

Azorean buzzard flying over Vila Franca Islet

Little egret on Vila Franca Islet

Reflections

Today the ocean around São Miguel, Azores is perfect, like a mirror reflecting everything around it. On days like the the water is crystal clear which is perfect for watching dolphins, sometimes 20 m deep or more. That is just what we have been doing today from aboard our catamaran and zodiac boats. The catamaran is perfect for watching dolphin bowriding, as they are right beneath your feet if you are standing on the bow and when the sea is perfectly calm like this it looks like the dolphins are flying through a cloudless sky. We could see our own reflections looking back at us on the water's surface and the curious dolphins were also looking up at us. Several times they turned on their sides to look us right back in the face, doing human watching while we were dolphin watching. Nothing compares to such an amazing nature experience, making eye contact with wild dolphins!

The species we encountered today were common dolphins, bottlenose dolphins and Atlantic spotted dolphins in the morning. We also encountered a few loggerhead turtles, including two together at the surface in the morning. In the afternoon we had an incredible experience swimming with common dolphins. Some lucky swimmers got to swim with more than just dolphins - they swam with about 6 sicklefin devil rays (don't worry they are safe) that were feeding on a large shoal of mackerel together with the dolphins. Last month we had record encounters with devil rays and manta rays and its great to see this trend continuing. As for the whale watchers in the afternoon we got to see five sperm whales and common dolphins. And lots and lots of turtles on the way. 

Photos from the morning:

Common dolphins next to the bow of our catamaran

Atlantic spotted dolphins (mother and calf) bowriding

Loggerhead turtle

Great shearwater taking off

Enjoying the views from the bow of our catamaran

Photos from the afternoon:

One sperm whale diving

Second sperm whale diving

Third sperm whale diving

August 2014 Sighting Statistics

August is the height of the summer season for us in the Azores and a great way to spend these beautiful summer's days is out on the water on a tour with Futurismo. During this past month we have had some really great encounters with marine life during whale and dolphin watching tours as well as with swimming with dolphins tours. We have encountered 10 different whale and dolphin species (see below for a list and corresponding sighting statistics for the month). As well as cetaceans (whales and dolphins) we have also encountered other amazing marine life such as manta rays and sicklefin devil rays (we have encountered these species during at least 9 different tours, which is a new record here in the Azores!), hammerhead sharks, marlins, a leatherback turtle and plenty of loggerhead turtles. These are the kind of days that we always have a lot to see and we never know what to expect when we return for our next tour out on the great blue ocean!

• Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) - 97%
• Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) - 100%
• Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis) - 71%
• Striped dolphin (Stenella coerueoalba) - 6%
• Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus) - 16%
• Pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) - 3%
• False killer whale (Psuedorca crassidens) - 3%
• Northern bottlenose whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus) - 3%
• Beaked whale species (Mesoplodon spp.) - 6%
• Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) - 42%

Who is watching who?

This morning we had another great time out on the ocean, encountering some of the wonderful dolphins of the Azores. We had observation boats and also a swimming boat out on the water and all of us got to see (and some of us swim with) common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins. The common dolphins were feeding (together with Cory's shearwaters) while the bottlenose dolphins were milling at the surface and occasionally diving. After our dolphin encounters we searched further offshore where from our catamaran we encountered a large cable wheel which we removed from the ocean. Luckily this piece of marine debris was made of wood, rather than something like plastic which is a huge killer to marine life. Either way we removed the large wheel so that it can be reused for something else.

Photos from today:

Who is watching who?

Picking up cable wheel