The Return of the Fin Whales

We are heading towards September and slowly the number of whale watchers is decreasing. August has been a very busy month (hence the silence from our whale watch crew on FB… ;-)) and apart from a few stormy days, the weather has been amazingly sunny and calm. The water visibility has been incredible, which made the dolphin swims a very special experience to all those that joined us. And also the whale watchers had amazing days out on the ocean. We have been fortunate to encounter at least 1 newborn Sperm whale calf of not more than 3 metres long, very curious to the surrounding boats. Also the dolphin pods showed high numbers of small calves.

Heading into September we observed the first returning Fin whale off the North Coast of Pico Island a few days ago. High, stable numbers of the big Baleen whales migrate through the Azores in the spring months heading up to their northern feeding grounds. On top of this northward migration, the last few years have shown Fin whales coming through the Azores in September feeding on the sardine runs in the Atlantic. When the sardines run close to shore, we have the exciting opportunity to encounter large pods of dolphins, many birds and sometimes up to 10 fin whales in the area. Here at Pico Sport we are keeping our fingers crossed for more fin whale encounters in the following weeks!!!

Danielle Dion photo

Photo by Robert M. Lehmann