June 2016 sighting statistics

It’s been another great month of whale watching in São Miguel. During the month of June we encountered 10 cetacean species: 5 whale species and 5 dolphin species. We are still in the switch over time between spring sightings and summer sightings, as we are still seeing the spring migrating whales (fin whales, sei whales and humpback whales) and we are seeing an increase in sightings of our resident sperm whales that are more abundant during the warmer summer months. The Atlantic spotted dolphins haven’t arrived yet, so they are later than expected this year, nevertheless we have had plenty of sightings of our resident bottlenose dolphins, common dolphins and Risso’s dolphin, and we have had some rare visits of false killer whales, striped dolphins and beaked whales. As for non-cetacean species, during June we also encountered a lot of loggerhead turtles, ocean sunfish (Mola mola), hammerhead sharks, blue sharks, flying fish, jellyfish and seabirds.