Month: May 2020

Sperm whales to the south, sperm whales to the north. Not a lot in between yesterday (Friday).

I joined the University of the Azores again to look for baleen whales. The lookouts had only seen sperm whales to the south of Faial when we left the harbour. Since there was no lookout in the north, we went to search the area which wasn’t covered by a lookout. We spotted the first turtle of the day about 3 miles offshore and then found a mixed group of common and striped dolphin. They were not interested in the boat, so we kept going. Shortly afterwards, we spotted our second turtle of the day. This was a fairly large turtle and Rui decided to launch the drone to get some overhead photos. There is a project planned to have an unmanned aerial drone surveying the waters around the island for wildlife. But before that can happen, they need to write some algorithms to decipher the footage they will get. The photo of the turtle was only taken from 15 m height and it is tiny!

Unfortunately, during the flight one of the engines malfunctioned, so the drone couldn’t be used again during the trip. We kept heading to the NW of the islands, until the lookout on the north called to say he was on duty and and  had spotted sperm whales closer to the coast and couldn’t see anything else, despite good visibility. So we headed in to get some photo-ID of the sperm whales on our way to the south coast. The vigia directed us to a group of three and then spotted a big blow about two miles further out. It turned out to be a male sperm whale and it didn’t wait for us to get in position to get a fluke photo. So we turned towards the south once again, but ran into sperm whales once more! A group of two, then a juvenile and another single all within a mile. So after another three flukes, we finally made it to the south coast, only to find that the wind had slightly changed and increased, making it impossible to do any work. So we had to call it a day. On the way home, we came across another tw loggerhead turtles. Still smiles for me, because although we weren’t actually looking for sperm whales, we found them once again and managed to get five ID photos.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Wednesday started out very grey and overcast. It was not looking very promising to go to sea, but still we headed out towards a small bank to the south of Faial and just as we arrived and deployed the hydrophone, the first blow was spotted! As we got closer, it was apparent that it was a baleen whale, since the blow was going straight up in the air. The next time the whale surfaced, the white flippers were seen through the water. “Humpback”, I shouted! The first humpback I have seen in 2020.

At this time of year, they should be on their way back north to the feeding grounds. This whale may have been coming from the Cape Verde islands or the Caribbean, likely on its way to Norway or Iceland. I notified the Azores university of the sighting, since they had been waiting for something to be seen before they left the harbour and we continued to track the whale. Unfortunately, it did not show its fluke, but I did manage to get dorsal fin photos and just have to hope that it is distinctive enough to find a match. When the university boat arrived, we left and headed to the West of Faial.

Before we had left in the morning, I was planning to head to the west if the lookouts hadn’t seen anything. I know that the “Winter Whales” usually hang around for a couple of weeks. The unknown factor, was if they had already been hanging around for a while when we saw them the other day or had just arrived. We will never know the answer to that question, but as we approached the Condor Bank, we picked up some sperm whale clicks on the hydrophone. About an hour later we spotted the first blow. As the whale fluked, my hunch proved correct. We had found the “Winter Whales” again! The first two whales we saw were the same two we had seen the other day, but we did manage to get a third fluke that was different. Given the hazy spotting conditions, we were lucky to see each whale twice. The juvenile that we saw a few days ago with one of the females was not seen on this occasion, indicating that it is getting to an age when it starts to forage for itself, only occasionally returning to suckle from its mother.

As it turned out, one of the Winter Whales was 2448, first seen in 2003. The one with the two small nicks on the left end (see photos) is 3483, first seen in 2007.

And the one with the small scallop on the right near the notch is 2808, first seen in 2004.

About five minutes after we started to head for home, I spotted some dolphin splashes . This turned into the first sighting of bottlenose dolphin, one of our resident species. Unfortunately, they were not going to escort us towards Horta, but were on their way to the west, so after about five minutes, we both continued on our separate ways.

Hopefully I can get out again soon, because towards the weekend it looks like a bit of wind before a couple more sea days next week.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Friday was one of those days you won’t forget for some time!

The morning started off quite drizzly and wet, so we delayed the departure. I was invited by Rui and Monica from the University of the Azores, IMAR, to join them aboard the boat I had been going out in.

The lookouts hadn’t seen anything and the south of Faial lookout had actually re-located to the north of the island. We headed out to the south-west. Monica and Rui wanted to find a fin whale to attach a short-term tag to, which records any vocalisations and also data during a dive, such as orientation and acceleration.

We had been going for about an hour when a back of a whale was spotted in the swell. We stopped and waited and waited a bit more. Blow! It turned out to be a sperm whale. Not what we were looking for, but we went to get the ID. As it fluked, I was pretty sure that I recognised it. We didn’t wait for any more, instead heading now to the south of Pico where the weather was clearing. We found a small group of common dolphin that came over to the boat and some a little further out appeared to be feeding.

We decided to head a bit further to the southeast, but by 13:30, we hadn’t found anything and started to head back to the harbour.

As we approached Faial, the lookout spotted the sperm whales again, so we headed over to have a look. Another project the university has, is to use a drone to collect samples of the blows, the famous “Snot Bot”! Although in Portugal (and therefore the Azores), drones are not allowed to be used by the general public, the use of this one (as wel as it biopsy darts and application of a tag) is approved under a research license. As Rui and Monica prepared the drone, we followed a whale along the surface. As it dived, I gave an excited shout! This group was the “Winter Whales”, so named, because we have seen them once in December, 2007. Once this encounter was over, we went back to Faial and everyone went their separate ways, but about 30 minutes later, the lookout Anteiro called to say he had seen a mother and baby blue whale! So we all raced back to the boat and off we went again!

The whales were off the South of Faial heading to the west. Monica & Rui prepared the tag and the biopsy dart (to collect a sample of the skin/blubber for analysis). Unfortunately, the mother was not very cooperative and every time we got almost close enough to deploy the tag, she turned away. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, it was decided to leave the pair to continue on their way. We did get the photo ID shots from both sides for both individuals and they have been sent off for matching.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The calf did some absolutely incredible lunges/breaches while we were watching that made for some unbelievable sights. I don’t think I will forget that for a very long time!

We will be out again next week.

With the weather looking good for a couple of days and the Port Captain now allowing a registered Maritime Tourism boat to go out to sea, I was off in Thursday in a RIB (rigid inflatable boat) called Risso, with a regular whale watching skipper.

As you can see from our track, we covered a lot of miles, 67.2 to be exact. It was worth it!

Although, the baleen whales (probably two fin whales) eluded us, we did find and photograph sperm whales. Judging by their size, they were most likely young males. I have to give credit to the Vigia (lookout) Anteiro, for giving us the information that the sperm whales had been seen. Also thanks to skipper Pedro Filipe for taking me out for just the cost of the fuel.

It took us over an hour to get to the area and the first whale that was spotted didn’t stay up long enough to photograph. But with the next four animals, they were seen early enough after surfacing, that we could get into position to get the all important photo ID photos! In fact three of them appeared at the surface within 300 m of the boat! We were using a directional hydrophone to listen to their clicks and have the best information on where they might be surfacing. The skipper, Pedro, is an expert at finding sperm whales this way. We were pretty sure that there were four animals in the group and when we got the third different fluke, we decided to try for those elusive baleen whales.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

After lunch, Anteiro spotted the baleen whales again, this time closer to Faial, so we made a beeline in that direction. Unfortunately, the rain blocked his view for a while and they disappeared. Along the way, we came across a group of around 50 common dolphin, which came over to bowride for awhile. And when the whales were spotted once again, still closer to Faial, off we went again. But the rain interferred once again and for today anyway, it is baleen whales 1 – Lisa 0.

The weather looks good tomorrow and hopefully Sunday too. So we will be back out on the water to see what we can find. The vigias will also be hard at work once again.

Thanks to Biosphere Expeditions, the 2020 season is well and truly under way.

Unfortunately, I have not been out. There was one small window during the week, but the yacht captain couldn’t go out. The weather has not been co-operative either. It always looks like there will be a day or two of good weather and then the window shuts. I was hoping to go tomorrow, but the forecast has increased wind now, so unlikely. It is driving me mad!

The good news is that two additional, smaller motor boats should be ready to go next week, so there will be more options for me. But the boats are not very large, so there will need to be pretty good weather to use them.

The small directional hydrophone is  ready to go, so if the lookout spots sperm whales, they will not “escape” again!

Another bit of good news is that my official research permit has come through! It is valid until the end of October, so if nothing re-opens here, at least I should be able to get on the water to collect data with the help Biosphere Expeditions have provided (thank you again).

I will keep you posted. In the meantime, here’s a little video: