Futurismo Biologists TeamToday the sun was shining bright and the sea conditions were good so we went out with the feeling that the morning was going to be awesome! And we were right!
The tour started with the indication that there was a whale around, but all we could see were our residents, the common dolphins. Since the start of the year, they’ve been around and today was no exception, however they were socializing more. Still, no sign of the whale…
Everybody had their eyes on the sea, even our guests, and when we least expected we heard Laura scream “blow!” and ahead we saw a very high blow! Although we knew it was a baleen whale, the exact species was still a mystery and between the biologists, we had our own suspicions. After a while, we saw a dorsal fin, but we were still not very sure. And the greatest moment of the day came a few minutes later when the whale opened its mouth out of the water and we could finally see it was a humpback whale!
It was an incredible moment, everybody was in awe, including the biologists! We followed the whale, who was also accompanied by a few common dolphins, as she continuously lunged out of the water to eat some fish. This was truly amazing, seeing a humpback on this kind of feeding behaviour in January!!
As the whale stopped feeding and started travelling, we faced the tough decision of leaving this animal to its life, after this incredible encounter we returned to the common dolphins which were still super interested in our boats!
After a while, we started our return to Ponta Delgada with the sun still shining, a great view of the island, and a huge smile on our faces. Today was a great day!
Futurismo Biologists Team
Sandrina Rodrigues
