An amazing day with 7 whale and dolphin species!

Today's whale and dolphin watching tours in São Miguel were difficult to beat. We have an incredible list of whale and dolphin encounters - a total of 7 species throughout the day! In the morning we started with Risso's dolphins, followed by striped dolphins, a fin whale, a humpback whale and an incredible encounter with false killer whales to end the morning. In the afternoon we added two different dolphin species to our list - common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins, and again we encountered the same humpback whale from the morning and some fin whales, including two incredibly curious ones travelling together that approached one of our boats. Everyone had slightly different experiences of this cetacean filled day, but all of them were great ones that will leave lasting memories. Our photos below tell just some of the stories from the day. Check back later here on on our Facebook page for some videos that our crew also made during the day.

Photos from the morning:

Humpback whale diving

The other perspective

Humpback whale (notice the bright blue colour from the white pectoral fin seen through the water)

Fin whale surfacing to breathe

One of our boats with the fin whale

Risso's dolphin

Risso's dolphin face peaking out behind the dorsal fin of its mother

Striped dolphin leaping high

One of our boats with a false killer whale

Jumping false killer whale

Part of the group of false killer whales

False killer whale surfacing

One of our boats on a perfectly calm ocean

Photos from the afternoon:

Bottlenose dolphins (Bubblemaker's group)

Humpback whale head (note the bumps called tubbercles)

Humpback whale curving its back to dive

The tail of the humpback whale

A curious fin whale passing in front of our boat

Two fin whales side by side diving together



Bottlenose dolphins fromthe swimming


Bubblemaker


Loggerhead turtle

Just like the great start, we had a beautiful end to the day

Whales every day in São Miguel

Despite different weather conditions throughout this month, here in São Miguel we have encountered whales every day and every tour that we have been on during April. This morning we rode out on a wavy ocean, but nevertheless the whales were out there waiting for us. There were fin whales all around, we really can't way how many were out there because we aren't sure. Our boats spread out in the area, encountering the different fin whales as they came up to the surface. Like yesterday photography was difficult due to the waves, but from one of our boats we got lucky in the end, just when we tried to leave the area the beautiful fin whale (in the photographs below) surfaced right next to us. As well as the whales we also encountered a small group of common dolphins inshore and some loggerhead turtles were seen from the different boats we had out on the water.

Photos from today:

A loggerhead turtle with algae on its back

Blue whales, fin whales and four dolphin species

Our amazing whale and dolphin sightings are continuing, São Miguel is definitely the place to be this time of the year. In the morning we went out and encountered 4 of the 6 species our lookouts had spotted from the coastline. First we had some common dolphins followed by a group of Risso's dolphins which included two young ones that were easy to spot from their dark body colour compared to the much whiter adults. But around were also few striped dolphins. Next we went for the whales. The waves were a bit bigger offshore where the whales were, so we had a fun ride, travelling between the different blows that we were seeing. We don't know how many whales were in the area, but we did encounter at least one blue whale and a fin whale. Photography was difficult with the waves and unpredictable surfacings of the whales, but the important thing is that had had this great treat of seeing the two largest animals in the world!
In the afternoon we started with bottlenose dolphins, so six species encountered again today, and it was the lovely Bubblemaker with family. They were calm and curious and we spent a lot of time enjoying their company. But more curious animals were waiting for us. We encountered more or less 3-4 fin whales. They popped up everywhere so we spent time with many individuals, and many of them were curious and often swimming up to our boats (see video below).

Photos from this morning:

Blue whale coming up to breathe

Blue whale (not a great photo, but the best we got this time)

Fin whale

Fin whale curving its back to dive

Risso's dolphins - mother and calf pair

Risso's dolphin calf surfacing next to its mother

Risso's dolphins

Common dolphin

Video of one of many curious fin whales this afternoon

Photos from this afternoon of the fin whales:

3 species of whales and 3 species of dolphins

The whales and dolphins keep invading São Miguel with their beauty! Six species today, in the morning we saw a sperm whale male and a fin whale, and both common and striped dolphins. In the afternoon we encountered a humpback whale, two sperm whale males and a fin whale, plus bottlenose dolphins (Bubblemaker) and common dolphins. A busy day, and maybe there will be more as the boat is still our there searching for more.

Photos form today:

Humpback whale

Sperm whale male

Fin whale