It was inevitable that it would happen eventually, the last day of our first expedition at sea.
The team are now working like a well-oiled machine – arisen, eaten and out the door with time to spare when we arrived at the harbour.
We set off with the sea as calm as a pond. Our first encounter of the day was with a couple of pods of common dolphins who kept us busy for half an hour; then over the radio came sightings of blows off yonder.
We headed towards the island of Sao Jorge and arrived to see a fin whale, no two fin whales; no, three fin whales – who delivered great dorsal fin shots for our photographers (Lisa & Simon). Though it is always nice to get the ID and artistic shot!
We parted ways and headed off to investigate the blows of a potential sperm whale sighting. As I was doing the data sheets today, I can assure you they were indeed, but not just one – there were 23 sperm whale encounters and up to 43 individuals including calves!
The day was rounded off with seven female sperm whales in a line, side by side when an enormous male came into view and made himself known. Some of the females disappeared and one of them breached out of the water causing a tremendous splash before the male and the remaining females dropped below the surface.
We could not have hoped for a better ending to the day and the first group of 2015.
Update from our volunteer vacation / conservation holiday protecting whales, dolphins and turtles around the Azores archipelago
Biosphere Expeditions: blogs from the frontline of wildlife conservation and the fight for a more sustainable planet 