Five fine fin whales

The baleen whale season has officially begun off São Miguel Island in the Azores!

Today we had our first baleen whale encounter, about a month earlier than last year. This year we started the season with fin whales, the second largest animal in the world! When we arrived to the area we though there were two, then we realised there was at least one more, and later on land we could confirm from our ID photos there were in fact five fin whales! What a great way to start our spring time encounters with the great whales. The coming months are the best time of the year to visit São Miguel to see the migrating fin whales, as well as blue whales, sei whales and the occasional humpack whale and minke whale (among other resident and visiting species of whales and dolphins). 

The whales were not the only thing that our clients were treated to on today's tour. Closer to shore we also encountered a group of bottlenose dolphins. It was a very curious and social group of at least 60 individuals. We were all delighted to see not only many juveniles, but also several newborn calves in the group. Like the whales, these baby dolphins are also a bit earlier in the year than is typical, so it was a nice surprise for us to see them. Among the dolphins we also spotted a loggerhead turtle to add to our very complete species list of the tour.

Some photos from today:

Fin whale blowholes

One of the fin whales

Surfacing to breathe

A distinctly marked individual - one of the 5 we encountered

A bottlenose dolphin mother with its calf

Loggerhead turtle

The start of the baleen whale season

This morning was both exciting and frustrating because we knew that whales were off the south coast of São Miguel Island, but we didn't manage to see one, despite our patience and search efforts. Our coastal lookout did a great job of spotting the blows of a couple of baleen whales offshore, but once we got to the area he was not seeing them anymore. We searched and searched but without luck. As we headed inshore again one of our biologists and a passenger aboard the catamaran spotted the blow of a whale. However, our excitment slowly faded as we waited and waited, again without luck. The fact that there are baleen whales out there marks the start of our next baleen whale season. During the spring months baleen whales (mostly fin whales, blue whales and sei whales) migrate past the Azores on their way north to feed in the Artic. It's a favourite time of the year for Futurismo's biologists, so we are really looking forward to the baleen whale season to be in full swing. Luckily we were not left with nothing. Closer to shore we enjoyed an encounter with a group of common dolphins. For our catamaran clients the encounter was particularly memorable as we were with a fairly large group and the dolphins came close to our boat to bowride. Our bird enthusiasts aboard this morning also enjoyed a close look at a couple of great skuas that were following our boat for a long time. The bonus for our zodiac boat clients was an encounter with a loggerhead turtle.
 

Photos from the morning:

 

  

    Some of our clients in the zodiac:
 

Whales to the west

Today we enjoyed two tours out on the water aboard our catamaran. We spent the morning in the company of two of our resident dolphin species. First a small group of common dolphins and later a larger group of bottlenose dolphins. As usual the dolphins put smiles on all our faces as they played in the waves around our boat. The bottlenose dolphins were especially curious today and it didn't take the biologists aboard long to realise it was the familiar group of "Bubblemaker". 

The afternoon was all about the whales. We went out to the far west to see them and it was well worth the ride. We ended up encountering at least 10 sperm whales together. There was one large male surrounded by several females and young whales also. To make this encounter even better, we also had a group of bottlenose dolphins around, interacting with this magnificent group of sperm whales. Finally, this afternoon marked our first sighting of a group of Cory's shearwaters who have arrived to the Azores for another summer breeding season.

Photos from the morning:

Watching bottlenose dolphins

Common dolphin

Common dolphin

Photos from the afternoon:

 Some members of the sperm whale group

 Tails everywhere

The big male

Jumping bottlenose dolphin

Young ones

Today we had an amazing time with lots and lots of common dolphins everywhere. They had some new born babies in the groups too, and we had lots of children aboard and we believe all the young ones had the best time ever. We also encountered one lonely bottlenose dolphin close to the common dolphins. We don't know why he or she was alone, maybe enjoying the company of the other dolphins, a scout looking for food or if the family were just further away and we did not see it. 

Photos from today:

Dolphins and sunshine

Today was a sunny day and a beautiful sea but it was hazy and misty making it difficult to find animals both for us and our lookouts. We did have a great time with common dolphins and a visit to Vila Franca Islet where we could see some birds, but that was it today. 

Photos from today:

Pirates on the high seas

This morning we set sail as pirates aboard our pirate ship Quatro ventos, in search of ocean treasures. We soon came across something shiny like gold, a playful group of common dolphins. It's always a pleasure to see these dolphins, especially on a day like today when there are some waves for the dolphins to surf. We spent some time with the dolphins, watching them play around our boat and bowride. We also searched a bit further out, and although we didn't find other cetaceans out there we got some nice views of São Miguel Island in clear blue skies. On our way back inshore we found our friends the common dolphins again, this time accompanied by a young loggerhead turtle. It was another nice adventure for our crew and passengers alike.