Spermwhales everywhere

This week we had excellent weather, calm sea and we enjoyed the deep blue of the ocean. With us we have some wonderfull guests that visited us already in the past. Birgit got a special shot.

Professional work

We do lot of work with professionals every year at Pico. Thomas Koutec has been here last week with a film team and was happy about the meeting with a baby spermwhale.

Wir in Patagonien

Hallo
wie viele von Euch wissen arbeite ich seit 15 jahren mit den Walen in Patagonien. So auch in disem Jahr. Der Haupttermin vom 25.10 bis 8.11 ist bereits komplett ausverkauft. Deshalb haben wir zwei weitere Termine geöffnet vom 11.10 an für 14 Tage und vom 8.11 an für 14 Tage. Infos dazu gibts hier: http://www.patagoniaproject.net/3-darwin/angebot03.html

Die Wale von Valdez sind atemberaubend. Wer einmal dort war ist für den Rest des Lebens geprägt. Hier einige Bilder auzs der Tour.

Herzliche Grüße, Frank

Krokodiljäger

Von den El Molo Menschen gibt es nur noch rund 100. Sie leben am Turkanasee. Bei Dreharbeiten für " die letzten paradiese" lernte ich diese Menschen kennen. Seither zieht es mich immer wieder zu diesem abgelegenen Fleckchen Erde. Einige Bilder sind hier zu sehen und im Januar 2009 gibt es 2 Termine unter meiner Leitung zu einer grossen Fotosafari in kenia, die uns auch zu den El Molo führt und an die Ufer des türkisfarbenen Rudolfsees....LG, Frank
PS: Grosse Tiere gibt es dabei natürlich auch zu sehen !

Wir...in Afrika

Wie viele von Euch wissen bauen wir gerade die neue Rhino Watch Safari Lodge mit Camp und Spa in Kenia. Am 1.8. öffnen wir das Zeltcamp sowie drei Chalets. In direkter Nachbarschaft leben 125 Breit und Spitzmaulnashörner. Die größte zentrierte Polulation Afrikas. Und seit wenigen Tagen gibt es eins mehr. Das sind gute Neuigkeiten die ich mit Euch teilen möchte. Die Naturfotografin Birgit Stuwe hatte das Glück das neue Rhino zu beobachten. Ab 5.1. gibt es eine spezielle Tour für alte Pico Kunden unter Franks leitung zu einem Sonderpreis...meldet Euch dann gibt es die Infos.

Über den Wolken

neulich, auf dem Weg nach Deutschland.....so sieht der Pico von oben aus.

A Sperm Whales Fingerprint

The contour of the fluke of a spermwhale is like the fingerprint for a human, different for every individual. With the help of these pictures, it is possible to study the sperm whale population of the Azores and to gain insights into the group composition as well as to follow the track of individual animals. Many things to discover about these creatures!

Voyagers of the Gulfstream

A rare sighting on one of our last trips... A Leatherback Turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, crossed our way. Very fast swimming, almost like a dolphin, we could not believe what we saw. Then we identified the huge animal as a sea turtle!
The leatherback turtle is the largest of all living turtles. It can easily be differentiated from other modern sea turtles by its lack of a bony shell. Instead, the carapace of the leatherback turtle is covered by skin and the turtle's oily flesh. It has a cosmopolitan global range, and comes to the Azores with the Gulfstream, who also brings jellyfish, the turtle's main prey.

Erst die Fluke zeigen und dann ein Salto

Wale springen manchmal. Bei den Pottwalen ist das eher selten. Aber manchmal gelingt uns eines dieser seltenen Bilder. Bevor das die Wale springen nehmen sie ordentlich Anlauf. Dazu tauchen Sie tief ab um senkrecht aus dem Wasser zu springen.
Warum springen Wale......da gibt es viele Möglichkeiten. Aus Spass, um sich gegen Nebenbuhler aufzuspielen, um die Jungen zu trainieren, um sich von Parasiten zu befreien, um anderen den Standort anzuzeigen, um Angreifer zu verjagen....Dieser hier scheint es jedenaflls zu geniessen.

Die Orcas kommen

Ja, die Orcas schauen immer mal wieder bei uns vorbei. Annette ist ganz fleißig beim Aufbau unseres neuen "Mid Atlantic OOrca Project". Hier ein nettes Bild von Roland Gockel aus 2005.

Ein Tag auf Sao Jorge

Wenn mal mal die Möglichkeit hat einen Tag nach Sao Jorge zu kommen dann sollte man die schönen Ausblicke geniessen. Sao Jorge ist ganz anders als Pico und unsere liebe Annette scheint das so richtig zu geniessen.

Summer is coming!!!

Yes the mid atlantic summer is approaching... clear water, flat sea, fish along the coast... A fisherman took the opportunity of these first nice hot days to catch some fish. Good place at the Areia Larga lava fields with Faial view... And I took my mask and snorkel and just jumped... :)))

kleine Knirpse

Ab und zu sind diese seltenen Tiere zu sehen. So in der letzten Woche, ganz nah bei den orcas, ein springender Zwergpottwal, Cogia simus. Hier ein Bild von Alex aus Salzburg der wohl als einziger Mensch das Glück hatte bereits 2 x solch ein Tier zu fotografieren.

Hidden species from the Pico crater lakes

There is also land-life on pico... somewhere up in the mountains, at the crater lakes, these ducks spend a calm life, probably mostly in the clouds. Looks like pre-historic hm?!

Amore Amore... :)

Being asked to marry with the man of the dreams... In the middle of the Altantic Ocean, with dolphins around... which woman doesn't dream about it??



Congratulations and all the best of luck from all the Pico Sport Team!

And with the blessing of Capitano Frank their future can only be full of adventures hehehe... :)

Longest video of flying fish released - 45 seconds flight above the water

Incredible... A japonese film shows the longest record of a flying fish in the air - 45 seconds! The fish was able to continue flying by occasionally beating the surface of the water with its tail fin when it began to lose altitude. The previous record was 42 seconds, filmed by some Americans in the 1920s. Apparently the flight of 45 seconds is close to the fish's physical limit, as brachial respiration is impossible while flying in the air...
See the video at http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=62203

Orcas at Pico South Coast!!

A call from the vigia Antero... "Orcas!! Killer whales!! Where are you?! Jump in your boat and go!!" So, we jumped into the boat and went. 10 miles from Pico South Coast we found them, a pod of around 8 animals... difficult to spot with the waves and the afternoon light, but fortunately we had the best eyes of the island onboard... Emanuel made the critical spot to recatch them, and we could follow them for a short time...



Each time at surface, they approached the boat, circeled around and came diving underneath the boat... Incredible!! Such curious and beautiful animals, we could see them move in the Blue, quiet around the boat, then they continued their way westwards.



The most impressive animal of the group... the big male with the huge dorsal fin!! Up to 1,60m high, it is visible from far away. Where does this group come from, where do they go...? We don't know, and just enjoy the short company.

A sei whale mother with the calf, always swimming close together and surfacing at the same time. We had the privilege to share some moments with them on their way westwards towards Faial Capelinhos... After that, where may they go...?


Cruise ship approaching Ilheus! Will the ship reach safe Horta port? Yes, and we took them out on our boats to see whales and dolphins!

A new born sperm whale baby approaching the boat... We stopped the engine and watched the animal coming closer and closer, checking out the strange floating object on the water, then trying to socialize... looking for milk from the boat?? It could be that this baby was looking for company while the mother went for one of these long dives, hunting for squid in the deep sea... Anyway, some really impressive and unforgettable moments!


Inbetween the lava rocks, close to Anteros Vigia, a Shearwater bird preparing the nest. They come back every year to breed on the Azores, and Antero already knows his company since years. It seems that they are really used to his voice and stick the head out of their cave when he calls them...



Pico mountain in evening light... view from Franks Bar!

2 Wochen mit Robert Hofrichter & friends...

Welcome to Franks Bar-Restaurante-Music Club at Pico Island :-)


Of course we had serious moments... biology presentations after the dinner!

Wenn der Chefgriller chillt und der Obergriller chillt... Original Robert Essen!!

Frank und Hubert haben alles im Griff

Festa do Espirito Santo in Sao Mateus... Holy bread for everybody

A huge blue whale at Pico South coast!!

Above the clouds on Pico Mountain

Captain Bligh is back on the water... :)

In the middle of a group of common dolphins

Painting or reality...? Dangerous beauty floating on the water! A portuguese man of war..

Hubert definitely in the pole position for the shot!! ;)