After three great weeks conducting research around the Azores, it was time for us to leave the islands and say goodbye to some wonderful people. Odd jobs completed, hydrophones fixed, boat cleaned, food shopped for (over three hours of trawling the supermarket!) and at last Song of the Whale and her crew could set sail for America.
The weather in the first few days was great for sailing, however not so helpful for spotting whales. The wind picked up and the swell increased leaving us rattling and rolling around the boat. Michelle (our student from the Department of Fisheries in the Azores) cooked us a fantastic soup on the roughest day, though unfortunately most of it ended up in our laps.
Once the weather calmed down, we were able to assess and begin to sort out the main sail which had developed a rip overnight, and we began to see some cetaceans again.
Our first cetacean sighting was of a sperm whale logging at the surface around 200 meters from our boat. We have been hearing sperm whales clicking for most of our journey so far, the ocean is alive with sound!
We have also seen common and striped dolphins (some bow riding with us at night, casting trails of bioluminescence behind them), fin whales and even a blue whale. It is amazing that in this vast ocean our path crosses with the world’s largest living creature. Some good photo ID shots were taken and we could see that it had a chunk of its dorsal fin missing.
We are amazed at the life we are seeing and hearing out here in the middle of the Atlantic and are excited at what the next few weeks will bring.
Kerry
