Jumping bottlenoses and bowriding commons

The sea was almost like a mirror today part from some swell and it was full of common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins. We started with common dolphins as the other were diving and we were waiting for them to show up again on the surface, so what better "entertainment" in the mean while then common dolphins? Then we arrived to the bottlenose dolphins which were busy working for the future and not as playful and curious as the common dolphins. But we got to see some jumps, flippers and flukes! We also saw great skua, northern gannets, Cory's shearwaters, loggerhead turtle and a salp.

Common dolphins bowriding

Bottlenose dolphins

Belly and flippers of a bottlenose dolphin

Aboard the zodiac

The pirates are coming!

Today our catamaran Cetus was taken over by a band of pirates and they kidnapped 33 people and took them out on the ocean for an adventures ride to see playful dolphins. There were more or less 100 common dolphins out there riding the waves and playing with our pirate ship. Pirates are very observent and don't only look at the sea but also the sky and we saw several Cory's shearwaters, northern gannets and great skuas. Luckily the pirates were nice pirates and took the ship back to port just in time for lunch!

Common dolphins

Dolphin checking out the pirate ship

Enjoying a nice hot cup of São Miguel green tea back in the office

Friendly dolphins

Today was a dolphin day. We encountered our friendly resident bottlenose dolphins and common dolphins, both not far from our base in Ponta Delgada. The ocean was calm and the dolphins were curious, making for some curious encounters. A bit further offshore we tried to find a group of striped dolphins that our lookout had spotted, but we never did find them. What we did find were several loggerhead turtles. On our way back along the coastline we passed Vila Franca Islet where we spotted a little egret among the more regular seabirds.

Humpback whales put on a show in São Miguel

This afternoon we had, again, a really fantastic whale and dolphin watching tour. We saw 3 different cetacean species: our already friendly bottlenose dolphin and common dolphin and the surprise of the day...humpback whale! The bottlenose dolphin were near Ponta Delgada and beautiful as usual. Our lookouts told us that they had spotted several blows in the area of Ribeira Quente, so of we went to investigate. When we arrived to the area something fantastic happened... we were greeted with a magical gift: wonderful jumps from a humpback whale. There were two whales. a mother with her baby. We saw at least 10 jumps so we got an amazing show. We also saw seabirds including the glaucous gull. All tours are different and really amazing in their own way. Today we got a nice surprise indeed.

Close encounter

Watching bottlenose dolphins 

False killer whales off São Miguel, Azores

This morning we had a really fantastic whale and dolphin watching tour. In total we encountered 4 different cetacean species: sperm whale, false killer whale, bottlenose dolphin and common dolphin. The common and bottlenose dolphins were near Ponta Delgada, and beautiful as usual. The sperm whales were further out in much deeper water. We saw the blows of several whales, but we spent all our time with a very large male, waiting for him to dive. He never did show his tail, maybe he was resting, so after a while we left him to return inshore to see false killer whales. It was such a nice surprise to see that these amazing animals were still around since yesterday morning when we found them. Our false killer whale encounter was a really magical experience that we will not forget. As well as cetaceans we also came across 4 loggerhead turtles, some krill in the sperm whale area (a great sign that the baleen whales will be here shortly) and seabirds including ruddy turnstones and a sanderling on Vila Franca Islet. We really are blessed to have so much marine life here in the Azores. To make this morning even better the ocean was really calm and we enjoyed the warming sunshine without a cloud in the sky until our return to Ponta Delgada.

A short video clip of the false killer whales

 False killer whales off the coastline of Ribeira Quente 

A powerful blow from a false killer whale

A male sperm whale resting at the surface

The large bulbous head is a good indicator that this is a mature male

Bottlenose dolphin

Common dolphin

One of the loggerhead turtles we found this morning

Great skua - one of our winter birds

The return to Ponta Delgada

Whale tales

Today we had a wonderful afternoon with sperm whales far out to the west. But we started the tour with a small group of common dolphins before we began the long journey to the sperm whales. We didn't have to wait long for the first blow from a female whale. She didn't stay long on the surface and gave us quickly a wonderful tail. Two more blows! A female and a juvenile but they didn't want the boat there and left us. Of course we respect this and stay away from them, leaving them alone to do what they want. Soon two more blows were in sight. One to the west and one to the east - we love when there are so many animals out there that we can't see them all. We slowly approached the one closer to us. And it stayed for a long time just logging and resting on the surface before raising the tail high up in the air! A sight to never forget. 

On our way back two of our biologists saw a large animal with a tall fin surfacing in the front of us. We stopped for a while, looking around to see if this mysterious animal would come up again but it didn't. It did look a bit like a sei whale but we can't confirm. Maybe we will see this one tomorrow. 

Some birds are to add to the list too: great skua, Northern gannet, yellow-legged gull, blackheaded gull (still with summer plumage), Azorean buzzard and kittiwakes.