{"id":1832,"date":"2011-08-17T21:37:01","date_gmt":"2011-08-18T03:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/?p=1832"},"modified":"2011-08-21T17:40:12","modified_gmt":"2011-08-21T23:40:12","slug":"honeymoon-tr-watching-whales-swimming-with-dolphins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/14erskiers.com\/blog\/2011\/08\/honeymoon-tr-watching-whales-swimming-with-dolphins\/","title":{"rendered":"Honeymoon TR: Watching Whales & Swimming with Dolphins"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Azores are a great place to see whales and dolphins. Once hunted, the commercial killing of whales in the Azores ended in 1984<\/a>. Commercial whaling was immediately replaced by commercial whale watching. And Pico is one of the prime places in the Azores to gaze upon some of the world’s most majestic ocean creatures.
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We embarked from Madalena and headed for the southern side of the island. Here the seas are deep and rich with squid, perfect for the Sperm Whales who like to feed on them.<\/p>\n

Frank ready to watch some whales, complete with an oversized PFD that acts doubly as a neck pillow.
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Our first sighting, however, was not whales. We first spotted dolphins. This type is called the Common Dolphin.
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Notice that is is easy to spot the dolphins under the water, especially with the aid of polarized lenses.
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Our next sighting- Atlantic Spotted Dolphins. This pod was particularly friendly and I just wanted to jump in the water with them, right then!
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Then, we spotted some whales. Sperm whales to be exact. We saw 15 of them over the course of about an hour or so. These are just a few pictures selected from the many. Sperm whales dive deep in the ocean to feed on squid but can often be seen resting at the surface like this between dives.
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The whales are just “catching their breath”, preparing for the next dive.
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And it is never very long before they dive into the depths of the ocean.
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Sometimes they “wag” their tails at us as they dive.
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And, rarely, they really stick that tail up in the air. Commonly referred to as “love-tailing”, we aren’t sure why they do it. But, we were happy to be ‘loved’ by this young whale.
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On our way back to Madelena, we came across a pod of Risso’s dolphins. These dolphins are a lot more shy, but still fun to see.
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The Risso’s dolphins have grayish skin at birth. But, fighting and other interactions lead to scarring <\/a>on the skin which appears white. The older the Risso’s dolphin, the whiter the skin.
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A short video of the Risso’s dolphins we saw.
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