The new year starts with a truly incredible event.
In the late afternoon of Jan 5^th the keen eyes of our Team member Antero Soares have spotted a North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) off S. Mateus - island of Pico.

We immediately left port and were honoured to enjoy a breathtaking sunset with the rarest and most mysterious whale of the northern hemisphere.

Unlike its southern hemisphere "cousin", the North Atlantic right whale is still highly endangered. Pushed to near extinction by more than 1000 years of whaling, the population is still not growing at any appreciable rate despite more than 70 years of protection.

Scientists estimate that less than 400 Right whales live now in the Western Atlantic and probably just a few tens are trying to escape extinction on the Eastern (European) side.

The new threats for the North Atlantic right whale, which is a coastal whale, span from collisions with commercial ships to entanglements in fixed fishing gear, biotoxins, chemical pollutants, habitat degradation and acoustic pollution.

A major collective effort is clearly needed not to make Eubalaena glacialis join the long list of "forever lost" species for which Homo sapiens must take full responsibility.

Go Whale Watching with us