A lot of biodiversity!

Hello ocean lovers,

As I always say during our briefing: the Azores really is a hotspot of biodiversity!
The last three days didn’t prove me wrong. Our crew and guests were lucky enough to see 9 (nine!) different cetacean species!

Let me give you a small recap:

We encountered all 4 of our resident species: Common Dolphins (Delphinis delphis), Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), Risso’s Dolphins (Grampus griseus) and Sperm Whales (Physeter macrocephalus). We saw 2 migratory species: a Sei Whale (Balaenoptera borealis) and Atlantic Spotted Dolphins (Stenella frontalis) of which the last one only migrates in the Atlantic ocean.
And on top of this we also spotted a Beaked Whale and two offshore species, namely the Striped Dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) and the Short-finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus).

 

 

This morning our tour started with the sighting of a Sei Whale. This animal was probably feeding and stayed most of the time under the water surface, moving fast.

A little bit further away there was also a family of Sperm Whales. They were in a socializing behaviour. Our guests were really surprised by seeing them rubbing and touching each other. When one of the juveniles started to jump, our jaws dropped.

 

 

Close by we suddenly saw some other motion. Dark colours, blackfish! It turned out to be a pod of Short-finned Pilot Whales. First they were logging at the surface. Swiftly it changed to movement and they started to interact with the Sperm Whales. How amazing to see two species interacting. What they really were doing stays a question mark.

 

 

On our way back to the marina we met a group of Bottlenose Dolphins, jumping and bow-riding with our boat.