Fin whales and three dolphin species

Today we had a morning with fin whales and bottlenose dolphins. We had 3 fin whales -  a big adult, a smaller adult and a young one, and they all were very curious and started coming closer and closer to us. We sure had a close and personal encounter with them, connecting with the second largest animal in the world. We also had swimming with dolphins and they had a wonderful time with the bottlenose dolphins, and since the whales were close the swimmers came by to say Hello as well. In the afternoon we didn't get to see the whales as they had left the area, but instead we encountered three species of dolphins: bottlenose, common and striped dolphins. It was not easy to see the first two species, but the third one gave a party that will stay in the memory for a long time. Lots of jumping and leaping!

Photos from the morning:

Bottlenose dolphins

Watching and swimming with dolphins

 

Fin whale breaking the surface

Fin whale and a Cory's shearwater

Fin whale blow

Spot the juvenile fin whale behind the big adult!

Watching one of the fin whales at the surface

Loggerhead turtle

Photos from the afternoon:

Watching bottlenose dolphins

Bottlenose dolphins

Watching bottlenose dolphins

A common dolphin in front of our catamaran

Striped dolphins

Blue whales, fin whales, dolphins and a seal

Today we had an amazing day full of different species. We started with common dolphins in the morning followed by bottlenose dolphins. We had some lovely time with the dolphins and a loggerhead turtle, but we ended the morning with a happy surprise of a grey seal! A very rare sighting so far from the continental coast. In the afternoon, so seal, but we got to see a blue whale chased by what we thought were two fin whales. Looking back at our photos (see below) later we realised there were actually 3 fin whales together with the blue whale! In the afternoon we also had an amazing show from bottlenose dolphins jumping high! What a day.

Photos from the morning:

Common dolphin jumping

Bottlenose dolphin

Bottlenose dolphin approaching

The grey seal "Vitulina"

Photos from the afternoon:

Show time!

Egípcio with friends!

The eye of a fin whale

The distinct dorsal fins of the three different fin whales we encountered

And the grand final: blue whale!

The blow of the mighty blue whale

Humpback whales in São Miguel, Azores

Today we had two humpback whales visiting us. In the morning we encountered both whales together, very close to the coastline not far from Ponta Delgada airport. In the begining they appeared to be an adult and juvenile, but later we could see that what we though was a juvenile was a small adult, while the other one was a very large adult. Perhaps a male and female travelling together? They pair did not stay together for long, after a some time they split up. We tracked the bigger one for a while as it headed offshore, while the smaller one stayed closer to the coastline. In the afternoon we caught up with the smaller humpback whale again as it was still near the island, further to the west. Several times this humpback whale showed its tail so that we could get ID photos for our catalogue. Later it was determined that this same humpback whale was photographed off Pico Island by researcher Lisa Steiner. We compare our humpback whale ID photos to the NAHWC (North Atlantic Humpback Whale Catalogue) to try to learn more about the movements of the small population of humpback whales of the eastern north Atlantic Ocean. As far as dolphins go, today we enjoyed the company of a group of bottlenose dolphins. In both the morning and afternoon they were in the humpback whale area, so close that we could often see both species at the same time. 

Photos from the morning:

Photos from the afternoon:

Dolphins and rainbows

Today we had a morning of dolphin and rainbows. Both common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins and at one moment together. So we started with the bottlenose dolphins and later common dolphins but we started to see some larger individuals among them and they were three bottlenose dolphins playing around together. In the afternoon we had only bottlenose dolphins but two lovely groups. We started with one group but we thought it was to many boats around for just a few dolphins so we left to search for a second group that we had all by ourselves. we had Bubblemaker around but today his entire family was blowing bubbles. 

Bubblemaker