July 2012 cetacean sighting statistics

During the month of July we have sighted 10 different cetacean species during our whale watching tours.

• Common dolphins – 97% sighting frequency
• Bottlenose dolphins – 52% sighting frequency
• Atlantic spotted dolphins – 84% sighting frequency
• Striped dolphins
  – 23% sighting frequency
• Risso’s dolphins
  – 52% sighting frequency
• Pilot whales
  – 26% sighting frequency
• Beaked whales
  – 6% sighting frequency
• Sperm whales
  – 48% sighting frequency
• Sei whales
  – 13% sighting frequency
• Fin whales
  – 3% sighting frequency

Summer is here and so are the large groups of dolphins and the sperm whales. During the summer we have the best chance of watching sperm whales and dolphins but we have had some great encounters with a few sei whales and a fin whale. The baleen whales, like the sei whale and fin whale, are migratory and pass by Azores during springtime but some have come by this summer giving us wonderful sightings. And all days all full of dolphins. Sometimes we, biologists, don’t know where to point our cameras because the dolphins are all around, jumping and playing, and we see a lot of babies in the pods because they are mostly born during the summer.