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Our base and boats are located in the touristic marina of Madalena do Pico, right across the ferry station that connects you to the other islands. Come visit us in Pico!
CW Azores was founded in 2007 by Dania Tesei, Enrico Villa and Michael Costa.
The company, based in Pico, is an official Whale Watching operator in the Azores (Licence 3/2008), SSI Dive Centre and a registered Travel and Tourism Agency in Portugal (RNAVT: 7277).
CW Azores is an official Whale Watching operator in the Azores that also conducts non-commercial scientific research, aimed at safeguarding local cetaceans and other marine life.
Research at sea is notoriously expensive and often represents a bottleneck in the study of marine mammals, as many species of cetaceans can travel tens or even hundreds of kilometres in a single day.
As a Whale Watching operator, we can combine some of the needs of both business and research and make the most of the 1500 to 2000 hours we spend at sea each year.
Our research projects are conducted either independently and in collaboration with academic institutions and NGOs.
Each year CW Azores offers the opportunity for some students to participate in our activities as interns or trainees. While most trainees are framed within programmes such as Erasmus+, quite a few have completed their Bachelor's Degree on projects where one of our scientists acted as a co-supervisor.
The internships are most suitable for students of degree courses in the following disciplines:
The following requirements are considered necessary for all types of students:
In addition, students engaged in field activities (as field cetologists) need the following requirements:
The student will acquire knowledge of the biology and behavior of cetaceans, and will need to share this knowledge with clients as well as use it for research.
Join us in supporting the scientists who work very hard for the conservation of mobulas and mantas.
If you are a diver, or simply had a chance to photograph a manta or mobula during any tour out at sea in the Azores, please send your photos to the Manta Catalog Azores Project (all details below).
The Manta Catalog Azores Project aims at providing a better understanding of the spatial ecology of Mobulid rays and the threats they are facing. In particular, the researchers want to learn where, when and why these animals aggregate at particular areas in the Atlantic Ocean, such as the seamounts in the Azores. For this, they have developed a photo-ID catalog and a sightings database (number of animals seen on each dive), with the help of citizen scientists (divers that provide data) and their collaborator dive centers, like us.
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by CW Azores