Another sperm whale day

We started out today searching for a baleen whale (probably a sei whale) but the whale never showed up, so instead we ended up with our resident sperm whales. In the morning we had a nice family group out there, the same group that we encountered yesterday and also on Friday. It is a group that we know well, there are some individuals that we have seen since at least 2003. From our catamaran in the morning we got to see 4 individuals, each one of them showing us its beautiful tail. We instantly recognised some individuals from the group, whales we call "Left tip", "Marble" and "Small u". In the afternoon it took a bit more searching to find the whales, but again we had a group of sperm whales out of Ponta Delgada. This time it was a different group and we didn't see any tails, so we don't know yet who they were. Thanks to our biologist Ida we managed to find this group in the afternoon and we pinpointed their location when one of them breached (jumped out of the water). As well as sperm whales today we also had some great dolphin encounters. In the morning we encountered Atlantic spotted dolphins (only the second time this year for us) and in the afternoon we had a group of common dolphins. It's been another great summer's day!

Photos from today:

 Atlantic spotted dolphins

A sea full of life

We've been having some misty days with high humidity, but that doesn't dampen our spirits and it certainly hasn't been stopping whales and dolphins from visiting us in São Miguel. Today we encountered a lot of different species. In the morning we had a sei whale off the coast of Ponta Delgada, and also common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins nearby. After spending some time with these 3 species we went a bit further out where our lookout had spotted sperm whales, however they didn't show up for us this time. In the afternoon we started with common dolphins and soon after received the exciting news that our lookout had spotted a whale very close to Ponta Delgada, just outside of the marina where we depart from. How could we have missed it on our way out!? It was a fin whale, the second largest animal in the world. The first and last time we encountered it at the surface between dives we got to see it close, especially the first time when it surfaced right near one of our rubber boats! The rest of the afternoon was spent in the company of more common dolphins, plenty of seabirds and finally in the same area we spotted a loggerhead turtle and a sicklefin devil ray. What a beautiful summer's day full of marine life right outside our base here in São Miguel!

Photos from the morning:

The sei whale in the morning mist

Sei whale

Bottlenose dolphins

Bottlenose dolphin

Loggerhead turtle 

Watching common dolphins from our catamaran

Photos from the afternoon:

Playful common dolphins

Our swimming boat with common dolphins

A close encounter with a fin whale that surfaced near our rubber boat

Our rubber boat with the fin whale

Fin whale

Fin whale

Watching the sicklefin devil ray

Watching the sicklefin devil ray

Sperm whales and dolphins

Today we had a wonderful summer day at the sea.

In the morning the clients from our zodiac could enjoy an adventurous tour! we had to go about 9 miles away from the coast  but it was totally worth it... we were lucky to see a mom and baby sperm whale. After a few minutes at the surface the mom decided to go for a deep dive showing us its beautiful tail, the baby stayed at the surface really relaxed, rolling around and doing spyhopping.

In the afternoon we didn't need to go far away from the coast, we were surprised by the presence of an adult sperm whale close to shore, once again we could see the majestic tail!

To finish the beautiful tour we found a small group of common dolphins with many newborns! Together with this group of common dolphins there was a bottlenose dolphin, sometimes it is possible to see different species of cetaceans together...what a nice memory for our clients!


Photos from the today:

Sperm whale diving

Sperm whale surfacing

Happy client seeing a sperm whale whale

Bottlenose dolphin

Mom and baby dolphin

Lots of baleen whales and sperm whales

Today we encountered several baleen whales, fin whales and sei whales. Plus several groups of bottlenose dolphins. On one side of the island it was more calm but grey and on the other side sunshine but a bit more wavy, we still got to see the wonderful migrating baleen whales. The fin whale (can reach 27 m) is the second largest animal in the world, and they were a curious towards us. The sei whale are the third largest animal (can reach 20 m) were as usual travelling west. Both species are heading north, and we are lucky to still see them around as we are in the end of their migration. In the afternoon we also sighted sperm whales, our resident friends.

Photos from the morning:

Photos from the afternoon:

Photos from the late afternoon tour:

***Please check back in the next few days***

A fun family of sperm whales

Another beautiful day at sea. Our morning started with an amazing huge group of striped dolphins. Next we moved on to a group of common dolphins and we ended up with a beautiful family of sperm whales. In the afternoon, the common dolphins started our trip and we ended with the sperm whale family again. They were really nice to encounter as they were super curious towards our boats and gave us a great show, especially one with its tail!

Photos from today:

The incredible striped dolphins

The striped dolphin

A young playful striped dolphin

Sperm whale watching from aboard our catamaran

Two sperm whale heads, one with its mouth open

Heads and tails

Watching a sperm whale lobtailing

Sperm whale lobtailing

Dolphin watching from our catamaran 

Our boats in the afternoon

Loggerhead turtle

The beautiful coastline of São Miguel island