July always holds many surprises, this year the month has been truly outstanding - a feeding Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera brydei) sighted two days in a row off the south coast of Pico. While Blue, Fin and Sei whales are often encountered in our waters during the season, the Bryde's whales is mostly found in tropical and semi-tropical waters and rarely ventures into the somewhat higher latitudes of the Azores. The excitement of the close encounter turned into a lifetime experience when the Bryde's whale started to feed on the surface, giving us a chance to see the baleen and the expanded throat grooves just a few metres away from our boat (see picture below).

Bryde's whale gulp feeding (Balaenoptera brydei)
Photo by Petra Szlama - CW Azores Staff

The Bryde's whale can grow to 15 metres long and weigh up to 15 metric tonnes. It is named after the Norwegian whaler Johan Bryde (pronounced 'broodus').

Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera brydei)
Photo by Sara Rezk - CW Azores Staff

The Bryde's whale is not an easy one to identify, especially in waters where Fin and, most notably, Sei whales are also commonly seen. The key feature of the Bryde's is the presence of three longitudinal ridges on the top of head; the other balanopterids only have one central ridge running from the blowholes to the tip of the snout.


Bryde's whale - detail of the throat grooves that work a bit like an accordion, allowing the whale
to expand the volume ot its mouth and filter a larger amount of seawater
Photo by Petra Szlama - CW Azores Staff 

While telling apart Bryde's and Sei whale is extremely challenging, ruling out Fin whales is a bit easier. Indeed, the lower jaw of a Fin whale is peculiar in that it is white on the right side and black on the left side. Taking photos of both sides of an individual often allows us to clarify the identity of a Fin whale.


Common dolphins associated to the Bryde's whale
Photo by Sara Rezk - CW Azores Staff

We celebrate this rare sighting as a tribute to the amazing species diversity we are gifted to witness in the waters around Pico island.

After an unprecedented number of sightings and the consequent success we have had in season 2010, subscriptions to the program Giants of the Sea 2011 are now open.

The Giants of the Sea program focuses mainly on the baleen whales that pass by the Azores in spring on their way north. Thanks to the enthusiasm and great interest shown by our guests who joined us on Pico during April and May 2010 we were able to successfully integrate our research activities and Whale Watching operations seamlessly with results well beyond expectations.  

Due to the program’s increasing popularity and our will to keep very high standards of assistance, we have decided to restrict the Giants of the Sea 2011 program to 12 participants per week. According to the very essence of the program, a high number of Whale Watching trips to sea are integrated with land-based activities such as presentations on cetacean biology, behaviour and conservation as well as museum tours and guided visits to the lookouts. 

Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
Photo taken by student Veronica Rossin who joined CW Azores for an internship 

Since our research is entirely funded by the Whale Watching operations, we want to heartily thank every single person who joined us so far. By paying for the Whale Watching trips, our guests have allowed us to spend a huge number of hours at sea in the company of the whales and dolphins - a fundamental prerequisite to recording behavioural data and photo-identifying the animals.

Please find more information on the program and how to subscribe by visiting our Giants of the Sea 2011 page.

A big thank you from the CW Azores Staff di CW Azores

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are perhaps the best known and most easily recognised of the great whales. They are charismatic and acrobatic animals, often breaching, lob-tailing, spy-hopping and flippering. They are also the most social of the baleen whales. Not surprisingly they make frequent subjects for wildlife film makers.  Their highly variable under-tail markings, ranging from pure white to pure black, differ between individuals and therefore also make them good subjects for photo-identification and research. Here in the Azores they are quite rare, usually just one or two sightings occur each year and their presence always causes great excitement among the whale watching community. This year has been good with six animals seen from three sightings so far. 

Humpbacks are migratory. Some of their documented movements represent the longest known migrations of any mammal covering 5000 miles one way. Recent estimates suggest there are around 11,500 Humpbacks in the North Atlantic.  In the northern Spring these whales all return to specific feeding grounds in the Gulf of Maine, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland, Labrador, Greenland, Iceland and Norway. Studies suggest that the whales faithfully return to these sites each year. In the winter whales from all these feeding grounds return to a common breeding ground in the West Indies to mate and calve. Just like the Blue, Fin and Sei whales, the Humpbacks that pass by Pico are on-passage. We usually see them in Spring when they are heading North.

Interestingly genetic data suggests the existence of a second breeding population composed of animals that spend the summer feeding in Norwegian and Icelandic waters. The location of this breeding site is still unknown. Small numbers of Humpbacks are also known to breed in the south-east Carribean and Cape Verde Islands and recent photo-ID has positively identified a Cape Verde breeding Humpback feeding in Icelandic waters. Perhaps the Cape Verdes are the location of the second breeding ground.

Cw Azores are submitting all it's sighting data (including photos) to the North Atlantic Humpback Whale Catalogue and the researchers studying the Cape Verde population. In so doing we hope to contribute to a greater understanding of the Humpback whale's migration. Perhaps too, we can help locate the mysterious second breeding ground as well as help identify the migration routes of endangered populations such as found around the Cape Verde Islands.    

Krill + Fish = Seabirds + Whales. 

I love the maths here. In truth, as any modeller of ocean ecosystems will tell you, the relationships between each trophic level are more complex than I state above. Nevertheless sometimes the outcome of these relationships are plain to see. In the last few weeks we have had a super abundance of krill. We have also had an abundance of their predators; fish such as sardines, baleen whales and seabirds, particularly Cory's shearwaters Calonectris diomedea. Day after day regular sightings of Blue whales Balaenoptera musculus, Fin whales Balaenoptera physalus and Sei whales Balaenoptera borealis have been thrilling our clients. So far six Humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae have also been seen. These whales are particularly rare here, this side of the Atlantic.

Have you ever wanted to see a Blue whale; to hear it blow and smell its breathe?

Follow this sequence of photographs; observe, watch and wonder...