Rainbow blows from sperm whales

Today in the morning we started by passing through an area of Atlantic spotted dolphins but from our catamaran we didn't see them so we went straight for the sperm whales. We encountered at least 8 family members and we got great ID shots of their dorsal fins for our photo identification research as many of them had good marks for us to use. But the best part was to see six of them together blowing rainbows! On our way back we also encountered bottlenose dolphins.

The afternoon was just as great as the morning as we encountered common dolphins, followed by Atlantic spotted dolphins and finally the sperm whales again. They were still together as a group, in fact this time we got to see even more of them together in a tight group at the surface. At one time we counted 9 whales together before we lost count. It must have been a group of 12 to 15 whales. Again we got plenty of dorsal fin photos for our research and we could really see that each individual was uniquely marked. We wonder who this family of sperm whales was...

Video of at least 10 sperm whale together

Photos from the morning:

Three sperm whales together

Photos from the afternoon:

Azorean dolphins

Today we encountered two Azorean resident dolphin species. The most encountered species, the common dolphin, kept us company during the morning and afternoon tours and gave some unforgetable experiences for our dolphin swimming clients. We saw many juvenile dolphins in some of the encounters and these were the most playful members of the group. The other resident species we encountered was the Risso's dolphin during the morning tour. The group size was big for this species, we estimated about 30 individuals. We had some nice but short looks at them as they spent little time at the surface and kept lifting their tails to go on deep dives to hunt. 

Photos from today:

Juvenile common dolphin jumping

Risso's dolphin peaking over the waves

Common dolphin wave surfing

Our swimming boat in the afternoon

Two in one

Today we had a mixed group of common dolphins and Atlantic spotted dolphins both in the morning and the afternoon. It's not unusual for us to see different species together, socializing or searching for fish together. Our lookout spotted a baleen whale, most likely a fin whale, as well but we never got to see this mystical individual, but once again the dolphins gave us a great time on the sea.

Video of the common and spotted dolphins bowriding together

Photos from today:

Spotted dolphin up-side-down

Spotted dolphin with a broken dorsal fin

Common dolphin

Common dolphin

Common dolphin

Dolphins and their babies

Today was a dolphin day. There is nothing like watching wild and free dolphins in huge numbers playing around the boat you are on, especially when there are babies in the group. That was the case today with several different dolphin species. We enjoyed the company of groups of common dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins and striped dolphins from aboard our different boats throughout the day. It's nice to enjoy the end of summer in this way and still have great weather, a calm ocean and these huge groups full of babies.

Photos from today:

Common dolphin

Atlantic spotted dolphin

Atlantic spotted dolphin calf with two adults

Common dolphin calf and adult

Watching common dolphins from the bow of our catamaran

Going the extra mile

This morning we went further than usual in search of whales. Our lookout on land did a great job of spotting some sperm whales offshore and to the east of São Miguel Island, so our whale watching boats set out to try to see them. Sometimes we only need to travel a few minutes offshore to see whales and other times are like this morning with the whales further out. We tried our best to get to the whales, but unfortunately this time they were just too far and they were moving further out while we were headed towards them. In the end the dolphins made it worth our time out on the ocean. We encountered some groups of common dolphins, including a particularly curious group on our way back to base. It was a group of about 40 dolphins that included a lot of babies. It was a lot of fun seeing the babies playfully leaping out of the water. From one of our zodiac boats they also encountered some Risso's dolphins and from aboard the catamaran our captain spotted a leatherback turtle when we were just turning back from the area where we were searching for whales. This rare turtle encounter sure did make it worth going the extra mile.

In the afternoon we tried the other side, more to the west, and we found plenty of sperm whales. But also common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins.

Photos of common dolphins from today:

Common dolphin baby

Baby jumping next to mum

Common dolphin and a Cory's shearwater

Common dolphin bowriding

That's marine life

Today we saw plenty of different marine life. We started with striped dolphins jumping as usual and giving us a crazy dolphin show. We saw them far offshore, where we normally see this oceanic species. Closer to the shore we found a large group of common dolphins. And among them we saw a large hammerhead shark swimming fast with its dorsal fin above water. It sure was an impressive sight. But the dolphins took of quickly and we found them again a bit further to the west with both Cory's shearwaters and great shearwaters. We got to see a few flying fish as well. Our swimming boat also had a great time with the common dolphins.

Photos from today:

Striped dolphins

Common dolphins and a great shearwater

Common dolphins and a great shearwater

Great shearwater

A hammerhead shark

Searching for the big ones

Today in the morning we had to travel really far to encounter sperm whales. In the beginning they were a bit shy towards the boats but eventually we could stay alone with the whales and they calmed down and we got a great encounter. On our way back we also saw common dolphins. In the afternoon the whales had moved too far for us to go there so we started with two groups of common dolphins with lots of babies playing around. When we tried to leave them they started to follow us. Then we went searching off shore for something different and bigger and we tried an area where sperm whales likes to feed. Our lookout had spotted bottlenose dolphins in the area and we managed to find them even though our lookout lost them in the waves. It was a large group of at least 60 dolphins jumping around. But we wanted to find something big so we continued to search offshore and on our way back also inshore as you never know, we have seen whales as close as 300 m from the shore. But we had to go back happy with dolphin encounters in our memory.

Photos from today: 

Summer is back

Today in the morning we encountered a sperm whale family and we got to meet at least nine family members. Later on a big group of Atlantic spotted dolphins with some new born babies and just before heading into the marina we met a small group of common dolphins. We started the afternoon with a large group of common dolphins and later on a group of bottlenose dolphins. We went for a search for whales but nothing wanted to show up, but further out the biologists spotted a mysterious animal. We still don't know if it was a dolphin or a beaked whale. But we did not see it when we searched the area. During the day we also saw flying fish and loggerhead turtles.

Photos from today:

Sperm whales

Part of the tail sticking up as the whale was rolling around

Spotted dolphins bowriding like if it was summer

Spotted trio

Dolphin photography

Today's photos are of the common dolphins that we encountered during the afternoon tour. Dolphins are challenging but fun to photograph, as they are always darting around our boats. The difficult part is trying to get an eye above water in the picture as they can surface very quickly. Although today's photos only include the common dolphins, our whale watchers also encountered sperm whales in morning. The first boat to arrive encountered an adult and calf together while the second boat got to see just the calf. Although we don't have photographs to share of these whale encounters we are sure that the memory will stay in our passengers minds.

Photos from today: