We enjoyed nice calm conditions as we sailed towards Madeira. Throughout the day we heard several excellent presentations. We also had a chance to catch up on editing the numerous photos of our time in the Azores. The day’s highlights were the two exciting marine mammal sightings of sperm whales and then a blue whale!
In the mid-morning, the announcement was made that the eagle-eyes on the bridge had sighted a sperm whale. Sperm whales are the largest of all the toothed whales and are regularly seen around the Azores. We were fortunate to see a small group of four whales just resting at the surface, including a calf of the year near. Sperm whales are the deepest divers of all the marine mammals, reaching depths close to two miles deep and can stay sub-surface for close to two hours. After all that time, they need to spend at least 20 minutes or more resting at the surface, slowly breathing to get ready for the next dive. We saw the calf rolling over a bit and the whales were right next to the ship so we had a fantastic look at their massive heads, wrinkly bodies and broad flukes.
Then just before recap there was another call about a large baleen whale sighted just ahead of the ship. National Geographic Explorer definitely brakes for whales so the ship turned and after a good look we discovered that it was the largest animal to live on the planet, the mighty blue whale! North Atlantic blue whales can reach lengths over ninety feet. They were hunted close to extinction during the whaling era and it is a rare sight to see one in these waters.
The whale was turning on its side and lunging through the water feeding. The ship was also slowly turning in circles so the whale was probably feeding on plankton that our propellers were bringing up to the surface. We had fantastic looks at the whale as it slowly swam alongside and even under the hull of the ship.
It was a very exciting day at sea but it is not often you can say that you have seen the largest of all the toothed whales and the largest animal on the planet in the same day, especially in the North Atlantic!
