From the 8th to the 21st of August we sighted 9 different species of Cetaceans!

One Species of Baleen Whales: Fin Whales;

Two Species of Toothed Whales: Sperm Whales and Beaked Whales

Six Species of Dolphins: False Killer Whales, Bottlenose, Common, Striped, Risso’s and Atlantic Spotted Dolphins.

 

August has been giving us a hard time weather wise! Big waves and some days we were not able to go out to the ocean. But on the days that we did we had some awesome sightings.

From Fin Whales (in August to see them is very rare! Not impossible but not usual.) to Northern Bottlenose Whales! These last ones are part of the Beaked Whales.

 Northern Bottlenose Whale/Hyperoodon ampullatus

Northern Bottlenose Whale/Hyperoodon ampullatus

These whales can reach 6 to 8 meters if females and 7 to 9 if males. When newborns they are 3 to 3,5 meters. Their most distinctive characteristic is the round and bulbous forehead, which is more pronounced in older individuals and adult males. The males have 2 teeth on the tip of the lower jaw. In the females the teeth stay under the gums, never erupting.

Normal dive time is 15 to 70 minutes, but can dives of 2 hours have been reported. Stays on the surface for more or less 10 minutes, blowing every 30 to 40 seconds. The blow is bushy and can reach 2 meters which makes it very easy to spot in good visibility conditions. Are known to lob tail and breach, also to logging (staying motionless on the surface).

This species is endemic to the North Atlantic Ocean and prefers deeper waters. Feeds usually on cephalopods  but also feeds on fish.

So this is it for this week! Stay tunned for the next updates!

 

 

 

Stephanie Almeida

About Stephanie Almeida

Stephanie is Guide at TERRA AZUL since 2013 and Operations Assistant since 2017. Contributed for several years on Data collection for MONICET – The Azores Islands Cetaceans Research & Conservation long-term monitoring project.

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