The whaling ended in 1986, just a few years before Futurismo began whale watching. Since then we have kept the tradition of using vigias to spot the animals from shore. Nowadays only the south lookout huts are used, as this is where we focus our whale watching tours. Our experienced vigias start scanning the oceans early in the morning, usually already finding animals for us before we leave the marina. Our skippers are in radio contact with the vigias, getting information about where to go to find the animals.
The vigia can, on a clear day, see as far as 45 km of the coast, and they can tell by the movement and the blow of the whales, which species we are approaching. They search for the blow of the whales, splashing and movement on the surface or large groups of birds indicating that dolphins might be feeding in that area.
We have several lookout huts on São Miguel.
The ones we use the most are Relva and Água de Pau on the south coast.
Our vigia Roberto
Close up of the hut called “40” in Água de Pau
Ocean view of our vigia in Água de Pau (lookout hut circled in red)
Photo from inside