Award-winning, non-profit & ethical wildlife conservation volunteering. Advancing citizen science & conservation since 1999
Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles
Having now spent a few days at sea, the whole team is very familiar with the daily routine. Whether team members are on lookout, data collection or the camera, everyone knows their role on the boat. This seems to include starting most days with a humpback ‘hunt’.
Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles
Our survey days often start quietly, with limited information from our vigias (lookouts). But on Tuesday things changed. Our luck, like the weather, improved.
Media release – 2 April 2026
Around the world, ordinary people are stepping onto the frontlines of wildlife conservation. Not as tourists, but as citizen scientists, they help track species, collect critical data and support conservation of wild animals and places that would otherwise not be possible.
The new 2025 Annual Magazine from award-winning NGO Biosphere Expeditions brings these stories together, revealing the people behind global wildlife research and the real impact they are having in the field.
The Magazine celebrates the ‘Human Factor’. The volunteers, local communities and scientists whose lives have been touched by working on the frontlines of wildlife conservation.
Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles
Welcome to group 2 – our most diverse (in terms of nationalities) this year. This includes our Singaporean quartet and our local student placement from Portugal.
Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles
Successful sightings have continued for our last two days at sea.
Tuesday continued the theme of blue, fin and minke whales. We have now had more minke encounters in the past four days than I have had in eight previous whale and dolphin research expeditions to the Azores. Calmer seas definitely help with sightings! The now obligatory common dolphin encounter rounded off another great day at sea.
Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles
Our whale and dolphin research expedition has put to sea. It was choppy, but the team were delighted to be on survey.
We were soon rewarded with sightings of common dolphins south of Faial. We did try to go south of Pico, following up on reports of baleen whales, but the sea state and wind had other ideas!
Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles
It was great to welcome our first whale & dolphin research team (and most of their luggage) to get the 2026 expedition underway.
Team 1 seems to have endless enthusiasm for the days ahead. We have been able to complete the normal project briefings, presentations and equipment training over the first couple of days… and the missing bag also arrived. Success all round.
Continue reading “Azores expedition 2026: Wet & windy start”
At just 27 years old, Tess Kneebone has already travelled extensively – from Costa Rica and Mexico to France, Morocco and across the United States. So, when a competition to join a marine conservation expedition in the Maldives with Biosphere Expeditions appeared on her Instagram feed, it was no surprise that she jumped at the opportunity.
What Tess could not have anticipated was just how deeply the experience would affect her: it reshaped her ambitions, strengthened her sense of purpose and introduced her to conservation in its most tangible form.
‘I’ve never felt more like myself than working on coral reef surveys with other ocean lovers,’ she reflects, her enthusiasm tangible.
Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles
Sometimes the hardest part of an expedition is starting, and this naturally means departing. Which isn’t always straightforward.
I was aiming to leave home on Friday 13th. That day, I woke up to a blanket of snow, followed by a power outage and then our first lifeboat call-out of the year on Loch Ness. First steps are not always easy!
Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles
Planning has been underway for several months and next week the Azores Expedition begins.
This marks the 20th expedition in the Azores. So, it’s time for the initial introductions. I am Craig Turner and I’ll be your expedition leader.
