SÃO MIGUEL
On S. Miguel Island there are several places for whale watching, such as Ponta Delgada and Vila Franca do Campo, all year long. Medium-sized boats can take up to 80 people, providing excellent safety and comfort conditions for this activity. Between São Miguel and Santa Maria, in spring time, it is frequent to watch the blue whale, the biggest animal on earth, 30m long and weighting 150 tons.
TERCEIRA
On Terceira Island, whether in Angra do Heroísmo or Praia da Vitória, there is a wide supply regarding whale watching. From the several species that frequently pass through the Azores in their migrate routes, the blue whale stands out. It can be seen during Spring and Autumn between the islands of Terceira and São Jorge.
Faial
Faial, Pico and São Jorge compose the so-called “Triangle islands”, where hard-fought battles between whalers once took place. The city of Horta, on Faial, houses today one of the most important and dynamic centres for monitoring cetaceans in the archipelago. Many whale watching companies operating on this island have experts and scientists linked to the University of the Azores as guides in their tours. The Horta university campus comprises an investigation and scientific centre for Marine Biology, Oceanography and Fisheries. Together with other universities around the world, the centre carries out many studies on the population, migration and routes of those giant marine animals.
PIco
The whale hunting tradition has its roots on Pico Island, the last place in the Azores to abolish whale hunting, back in the 80’s. But its people were very successful in converting this “job” into entertainment, as today there are whale watching companies in several places of the island, namely Madalena, Lajes and Santo Amaro.
The connection that people from Pico have to this activity is reflected by the several museums and ethnographic centres dedicated to whale hunting, where the traditional crafts of this extinguished activity are to be preserved. The Whalers Museum, in Lajes, and the Whalers Industry Museum, in São Roque, are two good examples.
