Face to face

To be standing face to face with a wild dolphin is a dream come true for many. Our group of Bubblemaker is a perfect group for some amazing interaction between human and dolphin. We know them and they know us. Because of this trust that we have for each other this group always plays with us, and they feel comfortable around us to continue their life with us as part of it. We always get to see so many different behaviors from this group, feeding, mating, nursing, bowriding, wakeriding, high jumps. And best of all human-watching. Part from these bottlenose dolphins, we also encountered common dolphins.

Photos from today:

"Bubblemaker" looking at us

Magical bubbles

"Lady"

Common dolphins and a Cory's shearwater

Common dolphin

Common dolphins

A calm morning of autumn with dolphins

Today, in a quiet morning and some sunshine, we were presented with a huge group of common dolphins. The common dolphins are one of our residents species, so it's possible to see during all year. Today it was possible to see a wonderful family with adults, juveniles and little new born babies. They are so beautiful and act like a real family, socializing, playing, protecting and teaching the little ones the skills they need as adults. In this morning of autumn was possible to spot many groups of Cory's sheawater in the ocean. We went by the islet of Vila Franca do Campo, where it was possible to observe other species of birds such as rock pigeon and little egret.

It was a quiet but a nice morning.

Yellow sided dolphins

Or common dolphins. Today we met a group of common dolphins, and we could clearly see new born babies following their mothers. The group were a bit shy and protective of their young ones but soon they understood we are only there to see them and play if they want. And they wanted! Back and forth and bowriding and wakeriding. And our swimmers had a great time in the water with this group, with mothers almost showing off their babies to them. We also passed a loggerhead turtle but it dived quickly.

Photos from today:

Hello!

Common dolphin baby

Black, white and shades of grey

Today we started with a large group of false killer whales, about 50 individuals in total all around us. We had a group of 5-7 animals staying close to us, bowriding, turning on their sides looking up and playing in the waves. A fantastic moment. Further inshore we also got to see some impressive jumps. Towards the end of the encounter the false killer whales turned white. Our captain shouted "Risso's!" and we had a calm, curious and beautiful group of Risso's dolphins. Our lookout had seen two more species for us to see to we set of in search for them. We didn't find the common dolphins but we did find the bottlenose dolphins. But on our way back towards Ponta Delgada one of our biologists spotted the fourth species: common dolphins and the tour was complete.

Video of the false killer whales 

Photos from today: 

False killer whales

False killer whale looking at us

Who are you?

False killer whale

Risso's dolphin

Risso's dolphin

Bottlenose dolphins

Bottlenose dolphin jumping

Common dolphin

A moment of meditation

Today we started with the Risso's dolphins, spread out and shy but soon they came together and they stayed close around. It was such a beautiful moment to be able to follow their shadows underwater and see them slowly surfacing. So we started it a almost meditative state of calm and slow. Then we met common dolphins and we all woke up by their speed and playfulness. and they had some babies with them and they were showing them off to us. 

Photos from today:

Torpedo Risso's dolphin

We started with a large group of bottlenose dolphins, our Bubblemaker was in one part of the group but we ended up with an other group with many familiar fins. They were very playful around the boats and jumping a bit too. On our way back, one of our clients spotted something jumping and it turned out to be Risso's dolphins. We saw one jumping like a torpedo, but unfortunately no photos of this. They surfed the waves and disappeared quickly. But we sure were happy to see them.

Photos from today:

October 2015 sighting statistics

During October we started to feel autumn and the presence of the residents (common dolphin, bottlenose dolphin, Risso's dolphin and sperm whale), but the fin whales have still been around giving us a hopeful feeling of what to come in spring. A sei whale has also been sighted. Both striped dolphins and Atlantic spotted dolphins have been present to remind us that the summer is not over and the water is still warm and nice. And some false killer whales has paid us a visit, which is always more then welcome as it is pure joy to see them, so 9 species of cetacean seen from our boats. Our lookout have also sighted beaked whales, but they have not been seen from the boats this month. 

The sea has been full of loggerhead turtles and flying fish, a wonderful edition to our tours. The sky has been busy too with Cory's shearwaters, great shearwaters, Manx shearwaters, common terns, yellowlegged gulls, pomarine skua and little egrets. So here in Azores, another fantastic month has come to its end and we are looking forwards to a great November.

• Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) - 100 %
• Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiop truncatus) - 70 %
• Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis) - 30 %
• Striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) - 5 %
• Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus) - 35 %
• False killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) - 5 %
• Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) - 35 %
• Sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) - 5 %
• Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) - 24 %

Common dolphin fun time

Today we had some fun time with our resident common dolphins. It started as a large feeding group but throughout the day the group started spreading out into their smaller family groups, and in the end of the day we only encountered a small group of about 10 dolphins. But right now all the Cory's shearwater juveniles have left their nests and are out on the ocean learning how to fly and its a great pleasure to see them. But one of the best parts was to see all the baby dolphins around. And so end October.

Photos from today:

Lovely encounter with some of our resident dolphins

Today we went out in the morning and spent a lovely time with our two resident dolphin species, common, bottlenose dolphin and cory's shearwater. Especially the bottlenose were very playful today and came over to our boat multiple time and were bow riding, which is always fun to watch.

Delphinus delphis | Common dolphin

Calonectris diomedea borealis | Cory's shearwater

Tursiops truncatus | Bottlenose dolphin

Dolphin play

Today we encountered some very playful and social dolphins. In the morning it was common dolphins and Atlantic spotted dolphins and in the afternoon common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins. Each tour is always very different, especially in terms of the behaviour of the animals. The social behaviour of the dolphins today made them a lot of fun to watch, especially the bottlenose dolphins in the afternoon with their high jumps and physical contact.

Photos from today:

 Beak to beak

Chasing each other

A bottlenose dolphin we all "Lady"

High jumps

Eye contact with a common dolphin

Familiar dolphins

Today we had some really nice encounters with two of our resident dolphin species: common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins. We saw several familiar individuals that we recognise from their distinct appearance and behaviour, as each dolphin is unique. Out of the common dolphins there was one in the afternoon that we easily recognised from its bent over dorsal fin - a dolphin we call Victor. Out of the bottlenose dolphins we recognised one we call Lady and another we call Bubblemaker. Check out or photos below that show some of our nice encounters and the behaviours we got to see today.

Photos from today:

Common dolphin

"Lady"

"Bubblemaker"

Some curious behaviour

Swimming with the bottlenose dolphins