Pico Sport
The Azores
Whales and Dolphins of Pico Island
underwater-world
Pico’s real treasures are found along the coastline which teems with marine life. Pico is among the world’s top ten places for Whale-Watching. Over 20 different species of cetaceans have been sighted along the coast in recent years. Whales and dolphins are attracted by the rich supply of food which results from coastal upwellings along the continental shelf.
The large baleen whales, like blue, fin, sei and humpback whales are only seasonal and occasional visitors to the island. Most of the smaller dolphin species, however, and the sperm whale are present year-round although their distribution and numbers vary seasonally.
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of the whales and other species
The sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) can truly be called “whale of the Azores”. Our sighting show a 60% success rate of encountering one of these large toothed whales. Sperm whales are found predominantly along the south coast of Pico where they dive to a depth of 1600 m to hunt their favourite food, the giant squids. With a maximum size of 20 meters, sperm whales are the largest predator that has ever lived on earth. Until the early 1980’s, sperm whales were hunted commercially in Azorean waters from small boats with hand-held harpoons. But today the hunters from the past practice a “benign” form of exploitation. The old “vigias” (land-based observers from the whaling days) nowadays communicate the whales’ position to Whale-Watching boats and guide the boats with their load of whale-crazy tourists to the friendly giants.

Pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) are very social animals and are known for their strong family bonds. Around the Azores they are most frequently encountered travelling in large schools of 50 or more animals between the islands of Faial, Sao Jorge and Pico.

The false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) is a frequent visitor to Pico, especially in August and September. Those social whales probably come to Pico to hunt pelagic yellow-fin tuna fish. Tuna fish can reach world-record weights of 500 kg in Azorean waters.

At least, five species of small dolphins are seen regularly around Pico. Atlantic spotted (Stenella frontalis), striped (Stenella coeruleoealba) and common (Delphinus delphis) dolphins come close inshore during the summer months to feed and rear their young. There is a good chance to observe large schools (sometimes 400-500 animals) of these dolphins feeding inside sheltered bays or along the continental shelf. Hundreds of Corey’s shearwaters and even tuna fish join the feeding frenzy once the dolphins have rounded up a school of fish beneath the water surface.

The bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is probably the best known species of dolphin. Around Pico, those dolphins are very large (around 3 m length) and usually occur in small groups of 10 to 50 animals.

Risso’s dolphins (Grampus griseus) reach similar sizes to bottlenose dolphins. They can easily be identified by their very distinct bulbous forehead and the numerous scratch marks that cover the body of adult animals and give them a nearly white appearance. Risso’s dolphins hunt in groups of 10 to 15 animals and predominantly feed on squid in depths of up to 300 m.
Orcas in front of Mount Pico, @ Thomas Schmidt
Spermwhale, @ Frank Wirth
Visit a gallery with photos created by our guests.
Risso's Dolphin, @ Frank Wirth
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