Bom dia everybody,
today was definitely a day to be on the water here in São Miguel Island! The settings edged perfection: temperature was unbelievably warm for November, sun was shining, wind was down to a few knots, and swell ranged around one and a half meter. Add to this that on the cliffs we have experienced eyes searching for cetacean activity and here we are, 15 nautical miles (around 28 km!) offshore, surrounded by blows. At least ten Sperm Whales (Physeter macrocephalus) are logging at the surface stalked by some offshore Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). More whales were detected feeding in the depths by our hydrophone. In this recording you can hear the whale’s echolocation clicks and some Bottlenose Dolphins’ vocalizations 🙂
It is not the first time that we observe interactions between Bottlenose Dolphins and Sperm Whales, as you can see in this picture taken by Terra Azul crew earlier this year.
In addition, on our way out to the whales, we encountered a large aggregation of Common Dolphins (Delphinus delphis), a juvenile Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta caretta) and a pod of about sixty Bottlenose Dolphins with at least three mother-calf pairs and a well known individual 😉
This bottlenose dolphin with a very distinctive dorsal fin is often sighted by our crew.
Not a bad way to end this month and approach Christmas time! 🙂
