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Azores (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter TWM
- Start date
sidwemn
Well-known member
Having recently returned from Sri Lanka, I can't imagine there is an easier place in the world to see Blue Whales than out of Mirissa. We were very much at the end of the season (mid April) and saw 22 Blues in three typically 4 hour long trips. The season is dictated by the sea state (Monsoon) rather than the presence of the whales. We also saw several pods of Long Beaked Spinner Dolphin, 1 Bryde's Whale and one Brydes/Sei that I haven't sorted out conclusively.
A researcher I spoke to on the first trip out claimed there were around 200-250 Blues off the southern part of the Island. On the last trip we had a group of 7 Blues around the boat. The next Whale Watch boat that we could easily see (about 10 minutes away) had another 8 around their boat at the same time. We also had a very distant Blue breaching, heavily cropped image below
Cheers
Martyn
Cheers
Martyn
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TWM
Well-known member
StuartReeves
Local rarity
Indeed they are! Fin whale for comparison wasn't bad either, and I certainly won't complain about a few hundred Common Dolphin as well as a few Bottlenose! A good scatter of birds too, including Pacific Loon, Black Skimmer, Pink-footed Shearwater, and Caspian, Royal, Elegant, Forster's and Least Terns. There was also a rather lost Mourning Dove that took a few turns around the boat and a similarly misguided small blue passerine that showed too briefly for specific ID but which may have been a Lazuli Bunting. An excellent way to spend the morning if you should find yourself in San Diego!
