Dolphins and pilot whales

It’s another perfect calm and blue summer day in São Miguel, perfect for going out on the water to see the cetaceans of the Azores. We started out the morning with plenty of dolphins for all to see. Some of our boats went to one area to see a group of Atlantic spotted dolphins, while our catamaran went to an area of some Risso’s dolphins. We ended up having a very nice encounter with 6 adult Risso’s dolphins that were travelling together. We also had a nice group of common dolphins to see and they were great to watch as they were very calm and curious, approaching our boat so we could see them perfectly through the crystal clear water. In the afternoon we started with common dolphins again, but soon received the news that our lookouts had spotted a group of pilot whales further to the east. It turned out to be a big group, with many females and babies in the pod. It was nice to see them, as we haven’t encountered them a lot this year. We ended the afternoon nicely with a social and curious group of our resident bottlenose dolphins. 

Bottlenose dolphins leaping after us as we leave