Sandrina RodriguesOn 23 days we had the chance to go onto the water in the month of September. Like this, we encountered eight different species which we could identify.
The Common Dolphins were the most common sightings with 17 days of appearances. Followed by the most famous dolphin, the Bottlenose, which accompanied us 14 times.
Our iconic Sperm Whales honored us with 9 days of presences and when they were around they compensated often with numerous individuals.
The summer guests the Atlantic Spotted Dolphins showed up eight days spread over the month. Three times we managed to have the tropical Bryde’s Whale as visitors.
Once we met two Sei Whales, which are typically found in the end of spring. The resident Risso’s Dolphins turned up once in September and one day the Striped Dolphins delighted us with their speed performance.
For one moment a smaller baleen whale emerged in the vicinity of our boat but as it didn’t show a second time we were not able to confirm if it was a Minke Whale that’s why it was recorded as unidentified.
Apart from this variety of cetaceans we came across three sharks like the Smooth Hammerhead Shark and Sicklefin Devils Ray as well as Loggerhead Turtles.
We could see what was on the menu of the feeding dolphins like Longspine Snipefish, sardines and mackerels. On the water surface while cruising towards our sightings we found some Portuguese Man of War and Flying Fish.
Close to the coast we found some Azorean buzzards and Rock Pigeons and further out seabirds like the Yellow-Legged Gulls, Common terns and a Bulwer petrel. From the family of the shearwaters we had four different species this month namely the Cory’s Shearwaters, the Great Shearwaters, the Manx Shearwaters and the Macaronesian Shearwaters.
Futurismo Biologists Team
Sandrina Rodrigues
