Pilot whales are around!

Today we’ve started the day with a cloudy and windy sky, but really keen to go out to the sea. The zodiac and the catamaran went out to see what the surroundings of São Miguel had in store for us.

A few minutes after leaving the port, the catamaran found a group of about 30 bottlenose dolphins that swam with the boat for a while and one of them also did some lob tailing! Bow riding is a very common behavior in the dolphins’ family, which consists of them surfing in the frontal waves created by the boats, so they are lifted and pushed forward by the circulating water. So, a proper velocity of the boat creates a pressure wave that gives dolphins the opportunity to surf and have some fun, saving, this way, some energy. Lobtailing is another behavior less presented in which the dolphins or whales lift their tail out of the water and then bring it back to the water in a hard and fast way, to make a loud slap. This enables them to remove the parasites they can have, communicate with others, or even to stun the fishes to convert them into their prey.

The catamaran then moved to the west looking for a male sperm whale that was seen by the lookouts and had just gone diving, but after a long time waiting he did not appear. Male dives take normally more time than the ones of females, but this sperm whale had a specially long dive, and was seen some days ago after diving for about 70 minutes! Luckily, while waiting for the sperm whale there were met a friendly group of Atlantic spotted dolphins that had some individuals looking for food, while others stayed bow riding and showing us some big jumps.

From the zodiac, they also found a group of common dolphins with some babies! The common dolphin can be distinguished by a yellowish lateral stripe and their small size in comparison to other dolphins.

Later, an unexpected visit came also to the zodiac: a group of pilot whales! This species is not resident but migratory, so only appears during some months of the year. Here in Futurismo there were already sighted some pilot whales at the beginning of the month, and now we are back to see them.

So, today we could enjoy the visits of four species of marine mammals, doing it respectfully and in the natural habitat of these animals. Book your visit now to enjoy these marine wonders with us!