A dramatic sunset on the North Atlantic
The gentle, warm waters in Maui, the shallow, calm Magdalena Bay, Baja, the deep blue waters embracing the Channel Islands, these wild, magical places provided us wonderful whale watching experiences this year. What a privilege to view these mammals.
We’d hoped that the fourth whale watching outing, a stop at Saõ Miguel Island, the Azores, would be just as charmed. In April and May, the magnificent blue whales migrate past the islands on their way to northern feeding grounds. More frequently, Sperm whales are spotted in the Azores since the males make their home in the island waters and females with their calves arrive during the summer months.
Seemed like whale spotting would be a slam-dunk.
Whales are wild mammals and thus operate on their own schedules. The naturalists onboard the whale watching vessel explained that the whales were around but that they’d arrived to the Azores late this year. That was code for — we haven’t seen many yet. While we saw hundreds of Common dolphins and lots of Spinner dolphins, not a single whale did we see. The seas around Saõ Miguel were inhospitable in another way — they were crazily choppy. Had I spotted a whale, I would have been too terrified to release my death grip on the railing, that slim piece of metal securing me to the boat, to pull out my camera and capture the moment.
The green island of Saõ Miguel, Azores. The Portuguese grow pineapples on this tiny island
Oh well.
Our cruise ship made other stops, though, each providing its own fun, but no whales.
We visited a market in Cork, an Irish pub, of course, the pretty seaside town of Cobh, and in Dublin, the spectacular EPIC — the Irish immigration museum and Jameson Distillery.
Houses in the charming seaside village of Cobh, Ireland
A beautiful Dublin building and who doesn’t enjoy watching people drink whiskey at 10 am….
Our favorite Dublin experience — EPIC. We are all immigrants.
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