Whales in the waves

The sea has calmed down again and we had whales out there waiting for our return. It was a group of at least 8 sperm whales that we could count at the surface at one time. There were a few young ones, surfacing high to get their heads out over the swell, among several adult females. With a bit of luck and patience our last boat with the whales got to see two of the adults raise their tails high above the waves to start a deep dive. Our photos of their tails show that they are both new to our catalogue and we hope to see them again in the future. As well as these whales some of us also had some dolphin encounters with 3 different species throughout the day. In the morning one of our boats came across striped dolphins and Risso's dolphins and in the afternoon the Risso's dolphins were re-encountered, as well as a group of bottlenose dolphins (that our swimming clients also swam with). What a great day with so many different cetacean species!

Photos of the whales from the morning tour:

Swimming with dolphins in the afternoon:

Thank you to our client Brian Phelps for sharing this photo with us

Bubbles and turtles

Today we encountered Bubblemaker again (bottlenose dolphin), and this dolphin is such a faithful friend and today I think the group were extra playful in the high waves. They were really showing off for us. We also saw at least four loggerhead turtles but only one stayed long enough on the surface for us to get a great look, and the turtle was looking back at us. After these lovely encounteres we went further out to search for more animals but nothing showed up. 

Photos from today:

Loggerhead turtle

Bubblemakers unique dorsal fin

Jump of joy!

Bubblemaker, common dolphins and gannets

Today we set off on an adventures sea to try to see whales and dolphins. The whales didn't want to show up today, but both common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins played around. The bottlenose dolphins were the famous group of Bubblemaker. And we also had the company of three Northern gannets.

Photos from today:

Common dolphin

Northern gannets

Bottlenose dolphin

Our first sei whale, fin whales and dolphins

Today we encountered two different whale species and two dolphin species. The first whale was a sei whale and it was our first encounter with this species this year. This encounter brings us up to 3 different baleen whale species already this year and we can definitely say that the baleen whale season is in full swing off São Miguel Island. Although it was difficult to see the body of this whale and almost impossible to see the blow, we did get to see its characteristic high pointy dorsal fin at the surface. It was exciting to confirm our first sei whale sighting of the year, even if we didn't see it that well. This moring also marked our 10th day in a row with fin whales. Further out from the sei whale we had an encounter with two adult fin whales. With these we got to see their bodies well and get a bit more of an understanding of the size of these great whales. The dolphins we encountered today were common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins. We spotted some familiar individuals, especially the bottlenose dolphins which were from the group we call "Bubblemaker's group". Bubblemaker is a dolphin that we got to know not only from its distinct dorsal fin (the way we distinguish between individuals) but also from its peculiar bubble blowing behaviour before surfacing. It was a nice morning out on the ocean with familiar friends and the visiting baleen whales.

Photos from today:

Fin whale blowholes

Fin whale just to surface

Fin whale

Sei whale

Bottlenose dolphin

A bottlenose dolphin we call "Bubblemaker"


Song of Whales and a bottlenose dolphin


Common dolphin

Curious humpback and fin whales

We started this Wednesday with our loyal common dolphins but we soon left to see fin whales. At first it seemed like it was going to be a bit difficult but no, we had two curious fin whales. One of our boats got to smell the breath of one whale. Talk about fishy. Then the fin whales had had enough of human watching, so we left them to see what else we could find. Just then we got the news of a humpback whale our lookout had spotted more inshore. We had a great time with this big humpback whale that surfaced near our boats several times, each time surprising us. Curious whales is one of the best things in the world. 

Photos from today:

 Fun with common dolphins

Fin whale surfacing

Fin whale

Fin whale

Humpback whale surfacing

Humpback whale, with some of the pectoral fin showing through the water

One of our boats with the humpback whale

Humpback whale curving its back to dive

The final great moment of the tour - the tail of the humpback whale

Fin whales all around

Today we had an awesome time with lots of fin whales around. In the morning we encountered two whales, and in the afternoon four, but we could see more blows around us. We think that there were at least 6 whales around in the afternoon, it was difficult to be sure as we seemed to switch whales a few times every time a pair came up. Some of the surfacings were close to our boats today, allowing us to get some great photos of these gentle giants. We also spent time with bottlenose dolphins in the morning (the same group some of our clients swam with yesterday) and common dolphins in the afternoon. They were calm and playful groups that didn't hesitate to bowride and look at us.

Photos from the morning:

The fin whale from the morning

Fin whale surfacing to breathe

A curious bottlenose dolphin

A bottlenose dolphin diving

Bottlenose dolphin outside of Ponta Delgada

Common dolphins

Photos from the afternoon:

One of the fin whale with a powerful blow

Fin whale curving its back to dive

The mouth of one of the fin whales

A common dolphin coming towards us