Futurismo Biologists TeamWe started the day with good weather conditions, with clear skies and good visibility for our spotters on land. Our two catamarans set off together for the first time this year, heading west in search of animals.
We began with the first sighting of the day, a group of bottlenose dolphins approaching the boat and allowing us to be seen close by, even performing little leaps. Once we were able to enjoy these animals, we continued our route in search of other species.
Moments later, we received a radio announcement from one of our lookouts: whale blow in sight!
We set off towards the open sea, surfing the waves until we were a few miles away from the end of the island.
Following the radio indications from our lookouts we could see a blow, apparently from blue whales. We remained very attentive to look 360 degrees around to locate the animals until, at last, a close blow appeared on the horizon. We managed to get closer and there it was! This time it seemed to be a fin whale, the second largest animal in the world after the blue whale!
We stayed in the same area in the hope of seeing the animal surface again after its dive. We looked for tracks in the water that these giants of the sea leave when they swim close to the surface. While the whale dived, we had the opportunity to observe some small marine species, such as Portuguese man of war.
In the last of the whale’s appearances, we were lucky enough to get closer to the whale, so we could see it well and confirm the species.
On our way back to Ponta Delgada, we were able to see some more sea birds. Apart from the frequent yellow legged gulls and the already numerous Cory’s shearwaters we were happy to welcome back the common terns which have been sighted occasionaly before but now we had seen various even following our boat. Almost back in Ponta Delgada we had a nice encounter with a friendly group of common dolphins, one more highlight of a long tour which was worth every moment in the opinion of children and adults. So another day with three cetacean species
and many others around which is a good sign of success but not just in quantity also in quality.
Futurismo Biologists Team
Sandrina Rodrigues
