That was swell!!!

A swell afternoon in Azores !!!
First we saw a pod of Common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), which are always so beautiful under the water o using the waves to gain speed. An colourful sight under the blue Atlantic waters.

 

In the Afternoon an amazing sighting for three Sperm Whales (Physeter macrocephalus) travelling together occured. The animals stayed at the surface for 10 minutes travelling to again amaze us with an amazing sighting of arching their body before diving and when diving showing their flukes.

This magnificent body movement before diving to arch and prepare for deep diving in order to hunt never gets old. Guests and crew are always ecstatic when it happens, especially three animals travelling and diving together at the same time.

But there is always a tricky part when this occurs since when one observes the animals, the boat has to remain still and turn the engine off in order to not disturb the animals.

So what happens on a day when swell is present you may ask. Swell is series of mechanical waves that occur at the surface, as a result of weather variations. This may affect some of balance and can result in a movement that our body does not understand making us vulnerable to feeling a bit sick, so I have decided to give a few tips to all our friends in order to be as prepare as one can be to avoid feeling the swell. Of course we are all different and this are just friendly tips than can always be of use to some of us.

Tip #1 : Have a good night sleep before going out to sea
Tip #2 : Eat something before going to sea, the best thing to have is bread or sandwich.
Tip #3 : Hydrate yourself
Tip #4 : Do not drink large amounts of alcohol the night before going to sea
Tip #5 : Enjoy the whales and dolphins

I hope these friendly tips can be of use to all our friends going at sea to observe whales and dolphins.

And have as much fun as we all did today enjoying those amazing deep diving mammals that inhabit Azorian waters. =)