|12-06-2019| Resident Sperm whales and Common dolphins (am. and pm. Expedition Tours)
The day started a bit windy, se we needed all our effort and the help of the lookouts to find the whales. Thanks to the many eyes looking at the surface, a few blows were found: Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus). In our morning expedition we saw 6 female Sperm whales, all in a fforaging behavior, performing deep dives. Some where diving in pairs, and even surfacing together. In the afternoon expedition the wind had increased so finding animals was even more difficult, but
|13-06-2019| Birdwatching and Whale Watching Azores
A morning Birdwatching and Whale watching with a group from France guided by Laury Grenon. We went to Condor Seamount SW of Faial "chuming" for seabirds, although the season is not particularly good for sooty, baroli, or great shearwaters which should arrive later this year. We found Sperm whales crossing the Condor seamount using our hidrophone. The team believed in our skills, and the Azores Naturalist Team managed to show this beautifull female diving. #naturalistpt #atlan
|13-06-2019| Jumping Sperm Whales and surfing Risso dolphins in the Azores
This expedition led us south of Pico Island, with the spotter Carlos Vigia da Furna, had found a pod of sperm whales. A large female kep jumping after our arrival, giving a spectacular and unique show. A younger female, on the images below surfaced for a few blows after diving withouth fluking. The trip was to be completed with a large pod of 20-30 Risso dolphins surfing the waves. A calve with birth marks was observed, although not photographed. This is a great sign for our
|11-06-2019| Pod of Orcas in the Azores
Off Baixo de São Mateus, a seamount south of Pico and Faial Island, far from the coast, the old Vigia Antero spotted the 'black fish" Orcinus orca.
A male, two large females and younger individuals composed the group.
Here the first images. Visit ia soon for more info and images on this rare sighting. #naturalistpt #atlanticnaturalist #azoresnaturalist #azores #whalewatchingazores #birdwatching #dolphingwatching #dolphinazores #faialtour #faialwhalewatching #Pico #Pico
|10-06-2019| 5 different species of cetaceans in the Azores
The first animals we could spot thanks to the lookouts was a mixed pod of Common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) with Stripped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba). The pod was composed by over 100 individuals. Some of the dolphins came near the boat. And some others jumped, showing their entire bodies. We changed direction in order to see a bigger species: Sei whales (Balaenoptera borealis), that are crossing the Azores towards the Northwest Atlantic. There were two animals. After
|09-06-2019| More sperm whales in the South of Faial Island, but this time with Risso's dolphins
The first that we saw hen we arrived at the South of Faial island was the blow of the Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) that the lookout had spotted. We spent the morning from one Sperm whale to the other as we were in the middle of the pod that has been around the area for almost a week. The animals were diving so we had to do a bit of "whale waiting" too. But we could see at least 7 different animals. We also saw a pod of the resident Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus) s
|08-06-2019| Sperm whale day
The pod of female Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) that we had been watching was still at the South of #Faial Island so there we went, this time next to #CasteloBranco or the "White Castle rock", moving towards South of #Horta, so we had #MontedaGuia on the background The animals were diving after squid, and resting at the surface for 5-10 minutes. The pod was distributed in pairs and single individuals. We could see 7 tails and took pictures of all of them. It was an ot
|07-06-2019| Amazing calm Sperm whales in the South of Faial Island, Azores
In the morning we moved towards the South of the island of Faial. There was a large pod of female #Spermwhales (Physeter macrocephalus). We travelled to the vicinity of #Capelinhos volcano and lighthouse to observe these beautiful animals. All the animals were diving in order to hunt squid, so we collected many pictures of their #flukes and bodies. We moved around the Southern area of #Faial following the animals. As we changed position so did the different amazing background
|04-06-2019| Cetaceans, reptiles, birds and invertebrates in the Azores
The sightings on this Expedition tour comprised a large pod of Common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), a group of Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) that we would see the following days was observed, with a large female raising her tail very high and descending gently, as in a cinematographic mode (see picture below). There was time to watch a Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta), Cory's Shearwaters (Calonectris borealis) and an aggregation of Portuguese man o'war (Physalia ph
|06-06-2019| Resident Sperm whales and Common dolphins
The sighting was in the South of Faial Island. Sperm whales (Physeter macrocepfalus) kept us busy on the 6th of June. We could notice that it was the same group from the previous day because of the shape and marks of their tails. But we didn't only see that species, Common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) appeared and add some fast movement and splashes to the day.