Marine life all around

Today day was a sperm whale day as we had several individuals around, but the ocean was full of animals. Throughout the day we saw common dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, Portuguese man-o-war, loggerhead turtles and marine birds. In the morning we also saw striped dolphins and in the afternoon we encountered a fin whales. We also saw krill, mauve stingers and moon jellyfish.

Photos from today:

One of many sperm whale

Jumping bottlenose dolphin

Our captain Mário holding a Portuguese man-o-war

Fin whale (afternoon)

Sei whales, fin whale, beaked whales, sperm whale and... dolphins everywhere!

Today we had an amazing summer day, full of life and cetacean species, we had  the sea full of bottlenose and common dolphins, they were just all around!  We also saw a group of Cuvier's beaked whales, that are not very common to see as they are very shy animals and spend very little time in the surface, it is always amazing to have this rare encounters. Whales were also present, we saw two sei whales traveling slow and calm.

In the afternoon we saw a big male of sperm whale, fin whale and of course our bottlenose and common dolphins.
We also saw many many loggerhead turtles!
Great day with great encounters for today.

Some photos of today:

Sei Whale

Sperm Whale

Cuvier's beaked whale

Looking into the blowholes

Today we had flat seas and calm winds with a nearly summer feeling in the air. We can't ask for much better conditions for whale watching. We travelled out over the peacefull ocean, spotting a few seabirds as we headed towards our first cetacean species, a group of playful common dolphins. There were some newborn babies in the group which the adults seemed to be proud to show as they glided through the water around our boat's bow. After spending some time with them our shore based lookout guided the captains of our whale watching boats to the west where he had spotted some whale blows. It turned out to be 2 fin whales, the second largest animal species in the world. They were doing fairly long dives but we got to see them well when they came up to breathe. On our way back along the coastline we also spotted a small group of bottlenose dolhpins. They were unfamiliar visitors, perhaps a transient group passing by the island. 

Photos from today:

Common dolphins, mother with baby

Common dolphins, mother with baby

Watching the common dolphins

Our swimming boat with the common dolphins

Fin whale blow

Breaking the surface

Fin whale back

Bottlenose dolphins

Watching the bottlenose dolphins

Springtime feeling

Today was a fin whale day, both in the morning and in the afternoon. In the morning the fin whales were a little bit more shy but in the afternoon we ended up with a very curious whale staying close to our catamaran Cetus. And we also had a loggerhead turtle around close to the whale, simply doing whale watching. In the morning we also encountered bottlenose dolphins and in the afternoon common dolphins.

Photos from the morning:

Fin whale from the morning

Aboard Cetus

Bottlenose dolphin

Photos from the afternoon:

Fin whale, showing the blowholes

Fin whale

"Colour" in the water

Fin whale

Whales to the east

Today in the morning we travelled along the coast to the east part of São Miguel Island, enjoying beautiful views of the green coastline on our way to the whale area. We had a group of sperm whales to see there, a family of at least 7 whales, including at least 2 small calves and a juvenile. The trip out to them was well worth it, we all got to see plenty of whales. In the same area our catamaran Cetus could see a sei whale, towards the end of the encounter almost together with the sperm whales.

On the way to the sperm whales we found different groups of our resident species of dolphins; common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins. The swimmers had a wonderful time with them! Our afternoon tour was more sunny and also full of great sightings. First we encountered a group of common dolphins in the beautiful bright blue water. We got to see some tiny newborn babies and also some mating behaviour of dolphins creating the next generation of babies. Next we encountered a small group of bottlenose dolphins, together in the same area as a loggerhead turtle that was soaking up the sunlight at the surface. Finally, we encountered a sei whale on its migration route. We got to see it several times at the surface and then left it to continue its travels.


Photos from today:

Sperm whale spyhopping

Sperm whale diving

Sperm whale fluke

Sperm whale family

Common tern feeding

Vila Franca do Campo

Beautiful landscape of the island

Photos from the afternoon:

Sei whale in the sunlight

Common dolphins - mother and newborn calf

Common dolphin

Bottlenose dolphins

Enjoying the summers day aboard our catamaran "Cetus"

Fun with dolphins

Today we had a fun day with common dolphins, bottlenose dolphins (Bubbemaker) and striped dolphins. In the morning it was a bit foggy and it was difficult for our lookouts to spot animals, we did see the dolphins and we searched far out but sadly no whales. In the afternoon it was clear and good and our lookout did spot a whale but we were not lucky enough to see it. But still, dolphins are wonderful and makes all of us smile! We also spotted loggerhead turtles, Bulwer's petrels, storm petrels and a Macaronesian shearwater. 

Photos from today:

Bottlenose dolphins

Bottlenose dolphin

Watching bottlenose dolphins

Watching common dolphins

Common dolphin jumping

The common dolphins in the afternoon also accompanied some yachts passing by

One of our swimming boats