Incredible sperm whales

Today, once again, we had Elsemiek's family (sperm whale) around. In the morning they gave us wonderful flukes as they were feeding. In the afternoon, with bellies full, they were in social and curious mode. We had an incredible encounter with five of them, and a sixth one breaching further away. They were rolling around, lobtailing, spyhopping next to our catamaran Cetus. It was a magical time with them and sperm whales will never stop surprising you. During the day we also saw common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins.

Photos from the morning:

Sperm whale breathing

Sperm whale going on a dive

Bottlenose dolphin

Photos from the afternoon:

Breaching far away

4 sperm whales together

Human-watching next to Cetus

Lobtailing (more sperm whale to the left)

Another day with Elsemiek's family

Today we encountered the same family of sperm whales that has been around during the past week. It is the family of Elsemiek, an adult female who we saw today, together with other family members who we have named Angel and also Peregrine, among others. In total we counted at least 11 sperm whales spread out across a big area in the morning, of which we encountered 7 up close from aboard our catamaran. In the afternoon we re-encountered 3 individuals from this group, including Elsemiek and Peregrine again. We can recognise the different individuals from the unique and natural marks they have on their tails, and many individuals in this group also have distinct white marks on their bodies (especially Peregrine who has a big white patch on its back). As for dolphins, today from our catamaran we encountered Atlantic spotted dolphins in the morning and in the afternoon a small group of common dolphins followed by a huge and active group of striped dolphins. From our other boats bottlenose dolphins and common dolphins were also encountered during both the morning and afternoon tours.

Photos from the morning:

Juvenile Atlantic spotted dolphin

Atlantic spotted dolphins

Sperm whales, a beautiful moment showing a "Rainblow"

The first tail of the morning

2 of the sperm whales diving together

Another beautiful sperm whale tail

Photos from the afternoon:

Striped dolphins

Striped dolphins

Striped dolphins - a huge group of about 200 individuals!

The first sperm whale of the afternoon

Two curious sperm whales (Angel and Peregrine) passing in front of our boat

The sperm whale we call Angel

The sperm whale we call Peregrine

Seeing familiar whales

Today we could confirm that it was Peregrine's family (sperm whales) that we have been encountering these last days. We did not get flukes in the morning but just by looking at the dorsal fin of Peregrine we know that it was he or she. Other family members include Elsemiek and Angel, although we did not see them we did see lots of new whales as we got the tails in the afternoon and also a breaching (jumping) whale. This is perfect for our research as we can add more sperm whales to this family unit or group. In the morning we also encountered a large and very playful group of bottlenose dolphins with newborn babies. In the afternoon we encountered a different group of bottlenose dolphins that did not really care about us, but the common dolphins on the other hand were more then playful and showing off a little bit by jumping around. As the cherry on top of the cake we saw a flying fish in the end of the day.

Photos from the morning:

Sperm whale watching

Bottlenose dolphin watching

Photos from the afternoon:

Encountering the sperm whales again

Our fourth tail of the tour

Sperm whales and several dolphin species

Today was another awesome day on the sea with lots of sperm whales. In the morning we encountered several whales and it was a fun race between the whales to see them all. We also encountered common dolphins close to the marina. In the afternoon we resighted the common dolphins and on the way to the sperm whales we came across a fun group of Atlantic spotted dolphins jumping all around the boat, bowriding and really giving us a show we will never forget. Then we saw one sperm whale that dived quickly. We enjoyed the spotted dolphins while waiting for the whale to come back up to the surface. Then we could enjoy the same whale again, now named Emerald by a lovely family aboard. Some of our boats also saw Risso's dolphins and bottlenose dophins.

Photos from the morning:

Sperm whale breaching!

Sperm whale at the surface

Sperm whale diving

Sperm whale watching

Watching common dolphins

Common dolphins

Encountering the common dolphins from aboard our catamaran

Photos from the afternoon:

Playful Atlantic spotted dolphins leaping

The first sperm whale tail of the afternoon

Sperm whale blow

The second tail, the same individual as the first

Whales dominated today

The start of August was excelent with five species but the sperm whales dominated all the tours. We encountered a family of whales that gladly gave us flukes. From our catamaran Cetus we encountered one whale 3 times thoughout the day, loyaly always giving us the perfect tail. In the morning we also encountered 3 Sowerby's beaked whales. We did see dolphins during the day as well, but we spent little time with them as the whales stole the show. We saw our ABC Atlantic spotted dolphins, bottlenose dolphins and common dolphins. And loggerhead turtles, to not forget!

Photos from today:

Head of Sowerby's beaked whale (showing how they got their name beaked)

Sowerby's beaked whale

Morning sperm whale

Second morning sperm whale (same as we later saw in the afternoon)

Happy afternoon whale watchers

Sperm whale "logging"

And the same whale again!