Pretty dark out at sea with even some rain at the horizon, that was the ocean when we went out, but soon a beautiful morning light tinged the sky and in between some mist and low clouds a warm apricot tone was making its way. This was the background we had when we spot a sei whale.
As we could also witness yesterday, baleen whales are still around, taking advantage of the Azores, a pinch of islands in the middle of a vast ocean, to rest and feed during their long migrations.
sei whale footprint in an early morning light
Our next encounter counted for a huge and active group of Atlantic spotted dolphins with many calves and juveniles. The calves were particularly keen on training their jumps as the whole group was travelling. Far in distance in the direction of the dolphins heading, a flock of seabirds was feeding at the surface, a possible indication part of the group might have been there feeding together with the birds.
Atlantic spotted dolphin calf breaching
Adults, juveniles and calf Atlantic spotted dolphins
More birds, mostly yellow-legged gulls and few shearwaters, were in the same area of a group of bottlenose dolphins. In the next picture there are some yellow-legged gulls and a single Cory’s shearwater, can you find it? 😉
Where is Wally? Find the Cory’s shearwater!
Our tour ended with a brief goodbye to the sei whale we found again on our way back and a smile at nature! 🙂
Your thoughts on this?