azwhales
The morning started completely covered, with a thin and constant rain that didn’t look like it was going to stop, but as the day developed Azores and its superpower of having 4 seasons in one day really stood up.
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| Photo by Iñaki Cabo Ibarzabal |
We first started with a curious group of common dolphins close to the shore, just a few minutes after leaving the marina of Ponta Delgada. It was a great opportunity for adding new individuals to our recently started Photo-ID project of common dolphins, although the rain didn’t really let us use our cameras at all times.
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| Photo by Iñaki Cabo Ibarzabal |
We then headed to a huge group of atlantic spotted dolphins, we estimated to be more than 1,000 individuals in the area. Everywhere we looked we could see dolphins swimming, jumping and socializing. Our lookouts told us that the group was covering a massive area. This species usually forms big groups at this time of the year, as they start leaving our waters before they get too cold.
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| Photo by Iñaki Cabo Ibarzabal |
On our way back, we also found another group of common dolphins right before reaching our destination port.
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| Photo by Carmen Balibrea |
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| Carine Zimmermann one of our beloved biologists. Photo by Iñaki Cabo Ibarzabal |
In the afternoon we came across a group of common dolphins. Probably the same group as in the morning, relatively close to the harbour. We enjoyed them for a while and then we went further out and observed a group of bottlenose dolphins. It was a nice comparison to see the differences in size and behaviour. We had the chance to see several times the whole animals when they were leaping over the waves. Today it was also a day of sounds, several times we heard the dolphins whistling. The sun was out and it was nice to be on the water.
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| Photo by Iñaki Cabo Ibarzabal |
azwhales
Futurismo Biologists Team
Sandrina Rodrigues
