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# The Whales
- URL: https://tombrewer.co.uk/the-whales/
- Published: 2025-09-03T10:50:44.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-21T09:33:50.000Z
- Author: Tom Brewer
- Tags: Newsletter, #Migrated-1789982889005, #Import 2026-09-21 09:29

### Pico Island

The alarm rang at 4am in Nordeste and, bleary-eyed, we set off for the airport in Ponta Delgada. By 7am we were boarding a De Havilland Q400 Dash for the short hop to Pico and no sooner had the sun lifted over the horizon, we began our descent, the jagged silhouette of São Jorge stretched below us like the back of a crocodile.

![](https://tombrewer.co.uk/content/images/2026/09/e6712bbc-f754-43ae-bd5e-d14b93d1c7a8_9504x6336-jpeg-1.jpg)

Life on Pico felt immediately slower, even compared with São Miguel. The roads seemed to sweep gracefully along the coast, framed by dry-stone vineyards and with views across the channel to Faial, another of the nine islands in the Azores. Early morning in Madalena was quiet and unhurried. We stopped for a quick coffee by the port and booked ourselves onto another whale-watching trip, determined to see the animals we’d missed on São Miguel. With hours to spare before our 2pm departure, we took a short drive down to the natural swimming pools in Criação Velha, to rest up after our early start, looking ut over the volcanic pools and rocks that seem to define the very heart of the island.

### Whale Spotting

Our tour was with CW Azores, whose team were generous with their knowledge of the marine ecosystem here. They explained the network of cliff-top vigias (spotters), still in use today, who scan the horizon with powerful binoculars and guide boats by radio to the best positions for sightings - usually highly knowledgeable ex-whalers with an incredible and instinctive knowledge of how the whales interact with and pass through this territory.

After our no-show of whales on São Miguel, we boarded the boat feeling a little sceptical. But our doubts didn’t last long. Barely beyond the harbour at Madalena, on the south-west coast of Pico, we had our first sighting of the day: a sperm whale. We watched as it prepared for a deep dive, lifting its massive tail into the air before sliding down into waters that can be more than a thousand metres deep. Sperm whales can dive to depths of over 2,000 metres and remain submerged for up to 90 minutes.

![](https://tombrewer.co.uk/content/images/2026/09/27cd204a-3a02-4d45-b88b-a7c01f93bda2_8249x4640-jpeg.jpg)

Moments later, a pod of pilot whales appeared in transit across our bow. Sleek and dark, they travel in close-knit family groups and are actually part of the dolphin family, though their rounded heads and slower movements set them apart. Our guides explained that regulations mean boats only spend a short time with each sighting before moving off, ensuring the animals are disturbed as little as possible.

Before long we were watching spotted dolphins, then common dolphins, racing the bow in glittering arcs. And finally, a sei whale, one of the largest animals on earth, cutting through the waves with effortless power. Unlike the dramatic tail-lift of a sperm whale, sei whales slip below the surface almost silently, leaving only a wide fluke print - an oval patch of smooth water on the sea’s surface. These whales can reach lengths of up to 20 metres and are among the fastest of the great whales, capable of bursts at nearly 50 km/h. They migrate vast distances across the Atlantic, filtering plankton and small fish through their baleen plates as they travel.

![](https://tombrewer.co.uk/content/images/2026/09/5babed95-03ee-4a4f-bbc3-7fd10762556d_7109x3999-jpeg.jpg)

![](https://tombrewer.co.uk/content/images/2026/09/1fc3a4a5-a340-44dd-852b-50031a72afc5_7000x3938-jpeg.jpg)

### Sleeping on the Volcano

That night we stayed at Aldeia dos Caldeirões, a collection of stone houses perched high on Pico’s slopes. Sleeping here felt like bedding down on the mountain itself, the land shaped by centuries of lava and labour, the Atlantic stretching endlessly below.