Looking for North Atlantic Baleen Whales: When are they coming to the Azores?

• Published in: Frontiers in Marine Science
• Main Authors: Laura González, Miranda van der Linde
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2014
• Subjects: Azores; Fin Whale; Humpback Whale; Minke Whale; temporal distribution; photo-identification; Bryde's Whale; Blue Whale; Sei Whale; Science; Q; General. Including nature conservation; geographical distribution; QH1-199.5; Balaenoptera physalus; baleen whales; Blue whale; Fin whale; minke whale; North Atlantic; Sperm whale
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3389/conf.fmars.2014.02.00088; https://doaj.org/article/b092034e838a4191b902527346894c76

The archipelago of the Azores is like an oasis in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Surrounded by deep waters, those islands are a “must stop” place for every traveler, including, of course, cetaceans. Around the archipelago more than 24 different species of whales and dolphins can be seen. Some of them are resident such as the common dolphin or the emblematic sperm whale. But others are seasonal or sporadic, such as the spotted dolphin or the big baleen whales. The aim of this study is to assess the temporal distribution of the baleen whales sighted off Azores. We analyzed data gathered off the south coast of São Miguel (Azores) from 2006 to 2013 from whale watching vessels. The whale watching company is located in Ponta Delgada and it works all throughout the year, always when the weather, the sea state and the number of tourists allow doing it. In Azores, whale watching companies use to locate cetaceans from land, with specialized lookouts spotting the animals from strategic points on the shore (as whalers did). These lookouts use powerful binoculars to locate the animals, and then give instructions to the boats to get to them. Once there, the boat registers date, hour, sea state, visibility, position (GPS), species, number of individuals, number of adults, juveniles and calves, behavior, association with other species and if there are other boats in the area. Photos are taken whenever it is possible and they are analyzed when the quality is good enough to distinguish natural marks and shapes. Most of the photos used in this study were taken in the last 5 years. Photo-Id catalogues were created for blue whales, fin whales and humpback whales. Data collected are more complete and frequent since 2009. In this case we have analyzed a total of 7691 sightings, belonging to 20 different species of cetaceans, 14 Odontoceti and 6 Mysticeti. In the latter group we recorded 491 sightings. The three most sighted Mysticeti species were the three great baleen whales: fin whale ( Balaenoptera physalus ) with 221 sightings, ...