Reporting Live from the Azores!

I should be out whale watching right now. Instead, I have walked through an enchanted walled garden, the sound of the ocean guiding me, and I now find myself perched on a lava column, shaped by centuries of wind and wave erosion to its current form, staring out at the mighty Atlantic. Breaker after breaker rolls in towards me, relentlessly pounding the basalt below. It’s blowing a hooley, and the waves edge steadily closer, reclaiming the rock pools they had left earlier, allowing the trapped inhabitants to be released by the tide once more. Am I disappointed? Quite the contrary. I feel exhilarated, blessed, and fortunate to be in such a beautiful place. The little we have seen of Sao Miguel island so far, mainly from the water, suggests that the green island is aptly named. Verdant, fertile fields lie atop sheer, steep-sided cliffs, that drop into the deep, deep ocean.

The ocean's contents bring us to why we are here. We are seeking giants…and 24 hours ago, we were doing just that. We’d only been out on the water 30 minutes, heading east along the island’s south coast, when we saw fluke prints to our port side. Enabling us to ‘track’ the animal underwater, we were soon rewarded with it coming to the surface to breathe, and we were able to identify our first baleen whale of the trip, a lone humpback. Half an hour later, we were still gliding alongside the most relaxed whale I think I’ve ever seen. Searching for food just below the surface, it cruised along next to us, its white flipper glowing aqua, alerting us to where it would pop up next. As the shine shone above us, it eventually silently slipped away into the indigo depths as we thanked our lucky stars for a wonderful start to the trip.

Moving slightly west, a small pod of sperm whales had been seen fluking earlier, indicative of the commencement of a deep dive searching for their favourite meal, giant squid. With forages averaging around 40 minutes, we put a hydrophone into the water to try and hear their distinctive clicking communication as they returned to the surface to rest. Although we were unsuccessful aurally, we were rewarded visually, as a series of 45-degree angle blows alerted us to their presence not far away. We watched, enthralled, as four of these 45-tonne creatures regained their breath before returning to the depths for their next course! Another two were spotted a little further away, and we joined them for five minutes before they descended for more.

This may be only the beginning of our stay here, but it looks more than promising!

To find out more about our whale & dolphin watching trip to the Azores, or to book your place, speak to our friendly team.