September - 2020

|22092020| Our first fin whale of the season

|22092020| Our first fin whale of the season

|ENG| Ready for another adventure?! Today we went to see the animals in the south of #PicoIsland. Our first sighting was a group of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). The group was big, more than 20 animals but they were very dispersed. This species is resident in the Azores archipelago so we can see them all year. During the sighting of the bottlenose dolphins, the spotter let us know that there were some baleen whales close to Faial, but as soon as we start to head t

Harp Seal | Foca da Gronelândia - Pagophilus groenlandicus

Harp Seal | Foca da Gronelândia - Pagophilus groenlandicus

Scientific Name: Pagophilus groenlandicus Common Name (UK, FR, PT, ES, DE): harp seal, phoque du Groenland, foca da Gronelândia, foca de Groenlandica. Short Species description: A true seal that lives in the colder water of the north Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Its scientific name means “ice-lover from Greenland”. This specie is considered the most abundant marine mammal species in the North Atlantic, and an ice dependent species that rely on thick insulation to maintain ther

|15092020| It's a sperm whale day!

|15092020| It's a sperm whale day!

|ENG| Today got a bit windy but we had an incredible expedition! We saw 4 different sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), all of them showed us their tails. So later we will add these to our catalogue. Maybe we have someone new to add! One of these sperm whales was a tiny calf! Besides the photos that we take for photo-ID, we also collect behaviour data to understand better how the animals react with the presence of the boats and to also understand their behaviour in the nat

|13092020| A morning with 5 different species!

|13092020| A morning with 5 different species!

|ENG| Again to the north! But today we were closer to #SãoJorgeisland and #Picoisland . Today our first sighting was a big sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis), these whales can go up to 15/16 m of length. This species is normally seen in the Azores during summer and there isn't a lot of information about their migratory routes, however, a tagged sei whale that was seen in the Azores was also seen in the Labrador sea, between Canada and Greenland (Romagosa et al. 2015). Together

|12092020pm| A leucistic risso's dolphin

|12092020pm| A leucistic risso's dolphin

|ENG| This afternoon we had an expedition to watch seabirds, lucky us we also got to see 4 different species of dolphins! Associations between dolphins and birds are very common, especially when they are feeding. So normally to find the dolphins, looking for birds it is a very good cue and vice-versa. Our first sighting was a small group of risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus), maybe they were part of the group that we saw in the morning. We saw one particular risso's dolphin t

|12092020am| Biodiversity between islands

|12092020am| Biodiversity between islands

|ENG| Today was the day to go to the north, where we can see #Picoisland, #SãoJorgeIsland and #Faialisland all at the same time! Our first sighting included a group of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) that were dispersed. We saw one from a distance diving and then we went to see another that came up to the surface not too far away from our location. When we were seeing the whale, suddenly appeared two more adults and one tiny calf, maybe with only a few weeks old. The ne

|10092020| Whale shark dream

|10092020| Whale shark dream

|ENG| The wind was going to pick up later in the morning, so as early as we could we went to look for cetaceans (name given to the group of animals which includes whales, dolphins and porpoises)! In our first stop, we saw 1 big and 1 juvenile sei whales (Balaenoptera borealis). Our team thinks that these whales were feeding because they were changing their direction multiple times and doing longer dives. After seeing these baleen whales, meaning that they have baleen plates a

|04092020| Pico island protection

|04092020| Pico island protection

|ENG| Windy but not too windy! We had some wind crossing the canal between #Faialisland and #Picoisland but when we arrive close to the animals the #Picomountain was giving us protection against the wind :) Our first sighting was a group of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) that were feeding, so they weren't spending a lot of time at the surface. This species eats a big variety of food from fish to squid, consuming 6 to 7 kg of food per day. Then we saw a mixed-species

|03092020| Full bellies

|03092020| Full bellies

|ENG| An amazing morning with #Picoisland on the background in all of our sightings!! The first thing that we saw this morning was a beautiful sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) and a lot of seabirds, mostly the cory's shearwater (Calonectris borealis) but there was also a few great shearwater (Puffinus gravis). Together with the whale and the birds were also a huge pod of spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis). All of them were feeding!! We could also see multiple balls of fis

|01092020| Manta ray surprise

|01092020| Manta ray surprise

|ENG| A sunny afternoon and a calm sea waiting for us! Soon after living the harbour in #Faialisland we spot 2 or 3 bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). They didn't seem interested in the boat so we let them follow their way and went to look for more dolphins. The spotter that was in #Picoisland had spotted a big group of pilot whales (Globicephala sp.) so we were on our way to see them. On the way, we encounter a big group of our lovely spotted dolphins (Stenella fronta

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