A feast for sharks!!

Yesterday’s morning trip was something else!!

After an amazing sighting of a big pod of Sperm Whales (Physeter macrocephalus) socializing and tail slapping, we were lucky enough to watch the whole pod sleeping..

Seeing a Sperm Whale sleeping is something very special as they simply log close to the water surface vertically with their head up. A few of them even poked their head out of the water so we could watch and enjoy in silence..

After a few more boats arrived, we decided to move and give the whales some space and luckily our lookout has spotted some Rissos dolphins (Grampus griseus)..
Those dolphins are always nice to watch with their unique look and gentle movements.

 

 

After having enjoyed two beautiful sightings of two of our resident species, we slowly made our way back to the island, and just before we got to the Ilheu we couldn’t believe what we saw!!
From distance we thought it might’ve been a Sperm Whale.. but coming closer we noticed it was too small to be a Sperm Whale and as soon as we discovered its a Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon spp.), we also unfortunately had to find out that its dead and only half of its body remained!

 

 

Of course our shark friends wanted to take advantage of easy prey and so this Whale was surrounded by two Blue Sharks (Prionace glauca) that were feeding on it.  Most probably it was not the sharks killing the Whale as they were too small (around half the size of the Whale), but the reason of its death is unknown for us.

 

 

This was definitely a sight to remember and something you don’t to get see every day! Not only are Beaked Whales one of the rarest species to see around the islands, but also seeing nature happening in full action was something very special!