Azores: Europe hot spot
WiseWhale really love the Azores, and we think wildlife watching there is amazing. We are talking about the incredible animals and species you can see in this region and if you visit at the right time of year, you might be lucky enough to spot blue whales or humpback whales during their migration. But beyond these seasonal sightings, the Azores are a place where you can observe a wide variety of marine life all year round.
Terceira: We spent time on Terceira Island. The most famous island for whale watching is São Miguel, where this activity takes place on a large scale every year. However, we believe Terceira is an incredible spot for wildlife observation because you don’t have to go far offshore to see the animals. WiseWhale had the chance to witness large pod of common dolphins, the elegant Risso’s dolphins resident in these area, sperm whales coming very close to the boat and interacting with it. Seeing these animals up close was truly breathtaking.
Like the rest of Portugal, the Azores have strict regulations in place to protect marine life. During our time in Terceira, we saw firsthand that these rules were being followed. Tour operators respected the guidelines, ensuring that boats didn’t crowd the animals and always approached them in a responsible manner.
We can’t say for sure about São Miguel, as we haven’t personally experienced wildlife watching there. We do know that many more companies operate in that area, but considering the strong regulations in place, we would expect them to follow similar practices. Either way, the Azores remain a fantastic destination for wildlife observation.
As we said there are general rules in place in the Azores that companies must observe. It is forbidden to:
Chase cetaceans;
Separate or isolate animals, especially calves from adults;
Feed cetaceans;
Scuba dive and use underwater scooters inside the approaching area;
Pollute the water with any solids or liquids;
Use SONAR, even outside the approaching area.
During approach, they must:
Keep the boat parallel and slightly behind the animals, in a way that they have a 180º free area ahead of them;
Avoid sudden direction or speed changes;
Do not exceed the speed of the animals;
It is strictly forbidden to:
Approach animals closer than 50 meters;
If the observed animals are agitated or show signs of stress the distance of the vessel must be increased accordingly;
It is forbidden to intentionally approach sperm whale calves when they are alone at the surface.
Time of permanence inside the approaching area is limited to a maximum of 30 minutes.
Whenever the animals approach the vessel closer than 50 meters, the engine should be idled;
When the observation is finished or whenever the animals show signs of stress, the vessels must exit the approaching area using the sector placed behind the animals;
When there is more than one vessel inside the approaching area the following rules must be obeyed:
No more than 3 vessels may be inside an area of 500 m around an individual or group of whales;
The precedence of observation is by arrival order to the approaching area or by the vessels’ proximity to animals that surface at a distance within 500 meters from any given boat;
The vessels must be parallel to each other and within a sector 60º behind the animals;
Approach manoeuvres must be coordinated via radio by the first vessel entering the approach area to reduce impact on the animals’ behaviour;
Each vessel can stay inside the approaching area of 500 meters for a maximum of 15 minutes, after which it must exit the area; during the same trip it cannot reproach the same group of animals;
If the animal/s dive during the observation period of 15 minutes the observation period restarts but the vessel loses precedence over the others.
