azores: whale watching

 Whale watching is a major attraction to anyone going to the Azores and, honestly, it was a highlight for me too. It was so good! These are all basically just the same photo of the ocean over and over, but I couldn't help but include them all.

The company we used, Moby Dick Tours, is one of the cheaper companies, but that doesn't mean it's not a good experience - I was more than happy with them. The ocean was a bit stormy (they cancelled tours the day before) and about half of the boat got seasick which lead to the crew deciding to get back to the island a bit more than halfway through the tour, but I didn't mind, really. (And the people who were sick were happy, too, once back in Ponta Delgada, haha!) And I didn't really get good pictures because most of the time I was too afraid to let go of the railing since the possibility of going overboard was definitely present. I was happy to be on a bigger boat rather than one of the small rubber ones! (Although that could be fun on a calmer day!) The main thing was seeing the whales, and whales we did see. I have the biggest grin on my face just thinking about it, it was so exciting! I saw whales and dolphins and just the whole experience of being surrounded by the deep blueness of the ocean was incredible. We didn't get to see any jumping whales or tail-slapping, but to be honest I wasn't expecting to see anything wild like that. But the dolphins did surface and did get so close to the boat you could've touched them. And I got the impression that this wasn't a "good day" and you could see and experience more when the weather's better or there just happens to be more whales/dolphins/turtles/whatever. Although, seeing the whales is only part of the experience since you do get to see amazing views of the coast and get a possibly once-in-a-lifetime experience, if you don't see any wildlife you can get a full refund. That's not what happened to us and a refund wasn't something that was on my mind at the end of the boat ride. This was such a good day, I loved the whales, I love the sea/ocean/any water, I loved being on the boat, and I loved all the blueness, I loved everything.

I'd also like to add that all the companies I looked into (granted I could've done a lot more research), including the Moby Dick Tours, are "ethical" in the way that they don't harass the whales and that they seem to not be bothered by the boats. They are just wildlife that these companies allow you to go see, which is why there is no guarantee of what and how much you can see and experience on any tour. Most companies only have whale spotters on land and on the tour boat to locate them, they aren't captured, kept in captivity, hunted or anything like that. I'd say if you want to see whales and other sealife, this is the way to do it.