A parade of dolphins

After some rainy days, today we were able to enjoy the sun on another Whale Watching trip.

The sea was a bit rough, and our ride bumpy, but soon we sighted a huge group of around 50 bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Bottlenose dolphins’ groups are composed of 10 to 15 individuals on average, however sometimes they are seen in bigger aggregations, and today was one of those days.  Adults, juveniles and even calves were sighted!

Did you know that the bottlenose dolphin is a resident species that can be found all year round here in the Azores? Today they were fantastic, they were not only bow riding they also made some amazing leaps for the delight of everyone on board. It was fun for us observing them having fun in the waves surfing.

But this was not all. There were plenty of Cory’s shearwaters and yellow legged gulls in the air and on the water. We also saw a Portuguese Man of War and from our zodiac Mirone common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) and what looked like a hammerhead shark (Sphyrna zyganea) were spotted!

Common dolphins like the bottlenose dolphin are a resident species. This means that we sighted two of the four species recognised to be resident in the Azores, only missing the Risso’s dolphin and the sperm whale. How lucky were we today! 

Come and enjoy these amazing spring days with us, and get to know the wonders of Azores’ marine biodiversity.