|10-06-2019| 5 different species of cetaceans in the Azores

Atlantic Naturalist
Jun 10, 2019
1 min read

Updated: Sep 30, 2019

The first animals we could spot thanks to the lookouts was a mixed pod of Common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) with Stripped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba).

ree — The pod of Common and Stripped dolphins

The pod was composed by over 100 individuals.

Some of the dolphins came near the boat.

ree — Common dolphin coming towards our 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 some blows we left the animals because there were more species to see: Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus).

While we were with the Risso's, 2 Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) came to the surface so we moved towards them.

We also found a Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta).

ree — Loggerhead sea turtle at the surface of a flat sea

Unfortunately, we also found garbage.

ree — Our captain Marco picking up the plastic container that we found

We waited a bit more before going back to Horta so we could see one last Sperm whale.

We saw its fluke and then we left the area on our way back to the harbor.

ree — The tail (fluke) of the Sperm whale

It was a very varied tour with a lot of species of cetaceans, reptiles and also birds, as the Cory's shearwaters (Calonectris borealis) and Portuguese man of war (Physalia physalis).