A grand group of bottlenose dolphins

Today we had a huge group of bottlenose dolphins off the south coast of São Miguel Island. It was incredible to see so many of these dolphins come together into what would be considered a superpod for this species in this area. Normally we encounter smaller groups of about 15-20 bottlenose dolphins here, but today we had at least 100 individuals together. It was difficult to estimate exactly how many there were because they were spread out over a large area and we were only with a small part of about 80 individuals at a time. Everywhere we looked in the distance we saw more of them leaping out of the waves. In the afternoon a part of the group came together into a tighter group so that it appeared that the water was boiling from the activity of the dolphins at the surface. We also spotted some baby dolphins in the group which is always a nice sight. Although our lookout did spot some baleen whales throughout the day we didn't manage to see them from our boats today. Luckily the dolphins more than made up for this today.

Photos from the morning:

Our swimming with dolphins boat

One of the baby dolphins

Photos from the afternoon:

Surfacing high 

Bottlenose dolphins everywhere

Orcas and fin whales in São Miguel

Today we had a day with lots of species. We started the morning with common dolphins and later on fin whales. We started with two whales, but we ended up with one. This whale was a little bit curious and surprised us a few time by coming up close to us. In the afternoon we resighted the fin whales but soon we got the news of orcas (killer whales) around. We encountered a male and a female, but our lookout saw one more male further away. Last time orcas were sighted in São Miguel was in 2014 so it was a happy sighting! The crew and the passengers were all very excited. We also saw one common dolphin, Portuguese man-o-war and a loggerhead turtle. 

Photos from the morning:

Beautiful day on the sea

Common dolphin

Fin whale

Fin whale

Fin whale

Photos from the afternoon:

Male orca

Female orca

Loggerhead turtle

Fin whale

A Risso's dolphin day

Today's highlight encounter was with a rather unusual species of dolphin - the Risso's dolphin. Although they are resident here, they are encountered less frequently than our 3 other resident species of cetacean (whales and dolphins). Compared to the other more well known dolphin species Risso's dolphins form small groups and they are considered to be shy and not so playful. However today this was not the case at all, in fact it was quite the opposite as we encountered a large group with several mother and juvenile pairs that accompanied our boat as we travelled. We even got to see some jumping out of the water, something we don't often see this species doing. It was great to have such a beautiful close encounter and really be able to see their unusual appearance (a rounded head with no prominent beak and a very scratched white body) which also sets Risso's dolphins apart from other dolphin species. Although we also saw a very small group of common dolphins, today the Risso's dolphins were the stars of the tour. 

After our amazing dolphin encounter we had some time to visit Vila Franca Islet where we spotted a variety of other types of wildlife. This islet is especially great for bird watching, and indeed we did spot two graceful little egrets among the more common bird species. We can also add a small loggerhead turtle to our extensive list of what we saw during today's tour. It was nice to have several clients aboard that took a great interest in seeing and documenting all types of wildlife we encountered, including the red rock crabs that make Vila Franca islet their home.

Photos from today:

Risso's dolphin jumping 

 A juvenile Risso's dolphin, almost without scratches

 One of the adult and juvenile pairs

 Two adult Risso's dolphins

Rock pigeons on Vila Franca Islet

Azorean grey wagtail on Vila Franca Islet

Red rock crabs

Little egret flying over Vila Franca Islet

Our biologist Andreia with a family we had onboard

Enjoying the ride back

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