In the company of cetaceans

In the company of cetaceans is the best way to spend a Monday. We started with bottlenose dolphins surfing the waves close to the shoreline. We recognised them right away as one of them is slowly getting known as "Lady". We don't know if this dolphin is a male or a female, but it just look so "lady-like" and sweet as it always looks back at us. After the bottlenose dolphins we tried a group of Atlantic spotted dolphins but soon we left for a blow. Our lookout spotted whales. It was a bit difficult in the waves and it took some time to find them. But if you don't try you will never see. We ended up with five beautiful sperm whales close to us, and it felt like they were enjoying our company staying around us. Even if they were doing shallow dives we could track their shadows close to us. Always just 50 to 100 m away, probably scanning us all the time with their sonar. A magical moment. And one of our boats also encountered common dolphins.

Photos from today:

"Lady" in the background and a friend

Bottlenose dolphin

Sperm whale

Sperm whales

One of our boats Song of Whales

Far west whales

Today we had to travel far west to see a sperm whale family. In the beginning they were avoiding boats and doing shallow dives but in the end of our encounter they accepted us and stayed close to our side, rolling around and we got some parts of the tails. Normally we use the tails to identify the individuals but we got no tails today, but we can also use the dorsal fins and two of the adults had some really good pigmentation spots that we can use (see photos). And one of our boats also got to see common dolphins.

Photos from our catamaran:

All five sperm whales together. Can you see them?

First to the left there is a calf, then one adult, in the middle two juveniles together (we can only see the two dorsal fins) and far right is the final one, but she is underwater (only some white waves from her)

One of the adults with good dorsal marks

The other adult with good marks, and parts of a fluke sticking up from a juvenile rolling around

One young sperm whale having a closer look

Elusive whales

Today we were reminded of the patience that is often involved in whale watching. We had whales around in the morning and afternoon, but during both tours they proved to be difficult to actually watch. In the morning our lookout spotted a male sperm whale and our catamaran arrived to the area just as the whale lifted its tail to go on a deep dive. We saw it from far away as we were just arriving to the area, so we decided to try to see it again the next time he would come up to the surface. We stayed nearby and looked and waited, and after exactly 45 minutes, which is the average dive time of a sperm whale, our biologist spotted a blow and off we went to investigate. We saw it two more times and realised it was a baleen whale, probably a fin whale. This whale was only coming up for one breath per surfacing and was very unpredictable, so all we ended up seeing was a few blows and a part of the body at the surface. In the afternoon we returned to sea and went out to try to see the sperm whale again. Our lookout had spotted him to the west and he led us to the area. We tried our best to try to find this whale but unfortunately it wasn't possible this time. Nevertheless, during both tour we did have some lovely encounters with the whales' younger cousins, the dolphins. In the morning we encountered both common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins and in the afternoon a couple of groups of common dolphins. We never really know what to expect with nature. 

Photos from today:

Bottlenose dolphins

Watching bottlenose dolphins from our catamaran

Common dolphins wave surfing

A playful common dolphin

Three species of dolphins and an afternoon whale

Today in the morning we encountered three species of dolphins. We started with a small group of bottlenose dolphins but there were just too many boats around that we did not want to put more pressure on the dolphins by gettung close to them, so we continued to a group of beautiful common dolphins with their babies. We ended the tour with Atlantic spotted dolphins bowriding in crystal clear water. In the afternoon we re-encountered the common dolphins and later on a really big fin whale. There were more blows in the distance but we stayed with one whale. It's been great to see many fin whales throughout the summer since the end of the north-bound migration in the spring. The ones we are seeing now are probably on the return migration south.

Photos from today:

Common dolphin

Atlantic spotted dolphin

Seeing a fin whale blow

Fin whale surfacing

One of our biologists describing our sightings

A sperm whale called Mr Liable

This morning we encountered the famous Mr Liable again. Mr Liable is a big and wonderful male sperm whale that we have been seeing off São Miguel Island for many years. The oldest photo we have of him is from 2006, but some of our skippers have seen him before that. We can recognise Mr Liable, and other whales, from the unique marks he has on his tail. His tail is one of the reasons he got his name. Mr Liable is very reliable in always showing us a beautiful high tail when he goes on a deep dive. He is also reliable in always returning to our waters, every year and most months of the year. As well as this big male sperm whale we also encountered a nice group of bottlenose dolphins today. They really seemed to enjoy playing around our catamaran so we got to see them really well.

Photos from today:

August 2015 sighting statistics

The month of August has been great for whale and dolphin watching off São Miguel Island. During this month we have encountered a grand total of 13 different species! The most encountered whale species was, as expected, our resident sperm whale. However, we were also surprised to see many fin whales which is not usual for this time of the year. Usually baleen whales like fin whales, blue whales and sei whales migrate through the Azores during the spring months. The summer is the best time for us to spot beaked whales and this past month we have encountered four different species: Sowerby's beaked whale, Blainville's beaked whale, Northern bottlenose whale and Cuvier's beaked whale. Of course dolphins were plentiful too. We encountered 7 different dolphin species, in order of most encountered: common dolphin, bottlenose dolphin, Atlantic spotted dolphin, Risso's dolphin, striped dolphin, false killer whale and pilot whale. 

As well as these cetacean encounters we also registered other species such as loggerhead turtles, leatherback turtles, sicklefin devil rays, flying fish and plenty of seabirds.

• Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) - 96%
• Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) - 96%
• Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis) - 68%
• Striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) - 11%
• Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus) - 25%
• Pilot whale (Globicephala spp.) - 4%
• False killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) - 7%
• Northern bottlenose whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus) - 7%
• Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius carvirostris) - 4%
• Beaked whale species (Mesoplodon spp.) - 18%
• Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) - 64%
• Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) - 54%

A little bit of luck needed

Today we were really trying hard to do our best and sometimes it works and other times not as well. Our morning was a true success as we started with a nice group of common dolphin and then we went on a search as our lookout didn't see any whales. We tried and were lucky as our captain of Cetus found a fin whale! In the afternoon we tried again but we did not have the same luck with the whales. We went really far off shore, further then normal to see sperm whales. As we finally arrived there were no whales to see. We waited for them a long time and as one boat got a glimpse of a sperm whale calf, at least we were in the right area. Eventually we had to give up. On the way back we briefly saw beaked whales, most likely Cuviers' beaked whales. But then the luck turned and we had two great encounters with common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins. A great thanks to all our clients and their patience today. 

Photos from the morning:

Common dolphin

Two common dolphins

Fin whale

Fin whale

Fin whale

Photos from the afternoon:

Bottlenose dolphins

Bottlenose dolphins

Common dolphin

Common dolphin

Loggerhead turtle

Fin whales are still around São Miguel

This morning we went out and encountered one of our well known groups of bottlenose dolphins, it was bubblemaker's group again, he is named after his habit to blow bubbles shortly before surfacing. We know him and his group for quit some time know and they are always very playful towards our boats. Shortly after we left the bottlenose dolphins we had the company of first 2 and a little later 3 fin whales, so amazing to see the second largest animal on earth up close.

In the afternoon we saw the same group of bottlenose dolphins as in the morning. Than we found a very playful pod of Atlantic spotted dolphins with 3 calves that were investigating our boat. We finished the day with the company of a group of common dolphins. It is always nice to see different types of dolphins and when they are in a playful mood it's even better.

Photos from the morning:

Bottlenose dolphins

Some familiar bottlenose dorsal fins - Bubblemaker's group

Fin whale blowholes

Fin whale

Photos from the afternoon:

Bottlenose dolphin

Swimming with Atlantic spotted dolphins

Atlantic spotted dolphins - juveniles with very few spots

An adult Atlantic spotted dolphin - you can see how this species gets it's name

Common dolphins wave surfing

Common dolphin calf surfacing next to its mother

Watching common dolphins

Common tern