Baleen whales again in São Miguel!!

After some days with no whales, we finally had an amazing day in company of fin whales! We start our trip with our very dear common dolphins, a very nice group in company of Cory’s shearwaters and a Risso’s dolphin in the middle when our lookout spotted Fin whales. They were very calm and curious about our boats, so we saw them very very close! In the afternoon they were still there at least 3 of them. A very nice group of bottlenose dolphin also showed up to make our day perfect! This is the magic of Açores, we never know what to expect about each trip

Head and blowhole of one of the whales

                                                         Whales were togheter all the time

                                                                Detailed blowhole

 

 

 

                                                     Group of bottlenose dolphins

Common dolphins

A different day

Not every day is easy to work with nature and wild animals. Today the sea was a bit rough , and the dolphins were not very curious in our presence. This morning we were able to see common dolphins with lots of cory's shearwater and during the afternoon a bottlenose dolphin was playing in the waves of our vessel 4 Ventos. In the afternoon trip we could also see a loggerhead turtle and, as we were close to Vila Franca do Campo, we also hadt a look at the islet.

 Cory's shearwater (Calonectris borealis)

 Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta)

Islet of Vila Franca do Campo

Striped dolphin show

This morning was all about the dolphins. First we encountered our resident common dolphins who were very keen to bowride, as they often are. It was really nice to see them surfing the waves right in front of our boats, a sight we can never get enough of. Further offshore we encountered a different species: striped dolphins. The typical behaviour of these dolphins is very different; they are very active, travelling at speed and leaping out of the waves in unison. Today we got to see the best of this type of behaviour, especially since the sea was choppy, giving the dolphins plenty of waves to leap out of. It was a striped dolphin show, as you can see in the few photos below that we managed to capture this morning:

Dolphins and rainbows

Today we went out on the ocean in the morning to encounter a beautiful group of common dolphins. At first they were feeding and we could see them very quickly chasing fish and leaping out of the water to go after them. After a while the dolphins calmed down and swam over to our boat to check us out. The ocean was really calm and clear, just like a summer day. This made for perfect views as the dolphins gracefully glided around in front of our boat. Several times we could see that they were watching us as much as we were watching them, as they turned on their sides to make eye contact. After our dolphin encounter our coastal lookout guided us to an area of some beaked whales. We got to have a very blief glimpse of them once but they never reappeared. Nevertheless, the common dolphins as well as the numerous rainbows throughout the morning made for a perfect tour!

Photos from today:

Familiar dolphins

Today we spent the day out on the ocean in the company of various resident groups of two of our resident dolphins species: common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins. Not only are these two species resident, but we also have particular groups that stay around São Miguel Island, so we can say that we also have resident groups. In the morning we encountered both species. First a group of common dolphins who were most likely hunting for food as they were spread out over a fairly large area and being followed by seabirds. We could distinguish one individual very well in the group as it was lacking the typical pale yellow colour on its sides, having a completely dark body instead. In the afternoon we resighted this same group of common dolphins, again with the dark individual standing out from the rest. The bottlenose dolphins were encountered in the morning and it was the well known group that includes an individual we call "Bubblemaker". We have been seeing this group since at least 2006, so it was nice to encounter our old friends again. This nice dolphin day was made even brighter with the presence of several rainbows over the island throughout the day. 

Photos from the morning:

The dark common dolphin

A more typically yellow-coloured common dolphin

Watching the common dolphins from the bow of our catamaran

Bottlenose dolphin surfacing

A bottlenose dolphin we call "Bubblemaker". You can clearly see why...

A Cory's shearwater with an orange belly

Photos from the afternoon:

Playful common dolphins

Brighten your day with dolphins

Common dolphins are our most sighted dolphin species with almost 100%  of the tours every month, winter as summer, as they are resident. We are very lucky to have such beautiful and playful dolphin in our waters. Today we had nothing else to see but common dolphins. But they sure know how to brighten your day with their smiles. The crew aboard the boat and our lookouts on land searched for other species but no luck on this part. Common dolphins, sunshine and fantastic passengers is all you need.

Photos from today:

A smile to all our passengers today

Breaking the surface

Playful dolphins

Today we enjoyed the company of common dolphins and a large group of bottlenose dolphins. There were a lot of Cory's shearwaters around the common dolphins indicating feeding going on but no big feeding frenzies. Just a small snack in the morning. At least 100 bottlenose dolphins were in the area but very spread out but we could see them jumping and making big splashes far away. Everybody in the front had a good look at the bowriding and could also hear the dolphins sing.


Photos from the morning:

Common dolphin

Common dolphins bowriding

Common dolphins

Cory's shearwater

Bottlenose dolphin

Bottlenose dolphin

Bottlenose dolphins

A perfect calm day with a mix of species

The weather just keeps getting better this week. Today it feels just like summer, with the sun shinning warmly and a perfect calm and clear ocean full of marine life. During the morning we encountered 4 different cetacean species. We started with a very curious group of common dolphins not far from the island. The dolphins were very inquisitive, always approaching us and looking back at us through the clear water. It was a small group, but they had some juveniles with them and they were always swimming close to our boat. Further offshore we encountered 3 different species together in the same area. When we first arrived we saw pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins. All though these two species didn't stick around, the third species, Risso's dolphins, did. We had a nice encounter with these beautifully marked Risso's dolphins. From our photographs that we take for our photo-ID research we could see that it was the same group that we saw 4 days ago.

In the afternoon... more surprises :) we start with common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins, we followed to false killer whales and, when we were coming back, we found atlantic spotted dolphins, which may be the last of the year.

Photos from the morning:

Common dolphins

Common dolphin

Bottlenose dolphins

Risso's dolphin - a very well marked fin we also saw 4 days ago

An adult Risso's dolphin covered in white scars

Risso's dolphin surfacing at speed

We often see other types of marine life. This is a velella in the water

Photos from the afternoon:

Pseudorca crassidens | False Orca/False killer whale/Pseudorca

Stenella frontalis | Atlantic spotted dolphin