Azores Experiences - Whale Watching & Jeep Tours

Global  demand  for  energy is the need of energy to power building, industry, transportation and other socioeconomic factors.   City by night (Pixels Art, 2021) Global demand for  energy is increasing due to industrial activity and advances in both developing and developed countries. Fossil fuel energy sources –such as coal, natural gas, and oil– are used to meet energy needs for much of the world. But the combustion of fossil fuels has increased the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere by more than a third since the Industrial Revolution. The rapid rise in greenhouse gases is a problem because it’s changing the climate faster than majority living world can adapt to. Moreover, burning fossil fuels emit high amounts of particulate matter and toxic gases that are highly harmful to health.  Polar bear struggled to find food due to ice melting. (The times, 2017).  Every year, an estimated 40,000 children die before their fifth birthday because ...

2020 is a year for change. Almost everyone will agree on that. But… what kind of change? And this is what we have to discuss, think and rethink. Because that is the important issue. That is what really matters.   (Corvo Island, Azores) Covid-19 has brought an important crisis. Not only a health issue but a social one, and it is global. It seems that the entire humanity has experienced a major setback, but we are forgetting that for many communities, the severe blow hit long time ago. Not the Covid-19 of course, but other health problems, other viruses, lack of sanitary infrastructures, lack of sanitation and lack of resources… From a wealthy status it is easy to forget about others’ problems. As long as we open the tap and water flows, it is easy to forget that some communities do not have access to drinkable water at all. Food can cause an obesity problem in some families, but it is also a malnutrition problem. The excess for some and the lack for others. This duality might not be...

As the whale watching season comes to an end, there are many things I want to talk about. Some are meaningful, others, not so much… I´ll be putting it down to “paper” in weekly instalments, I promise. But the first one is about something that has been eating at me… Dolphin Snorkeling… “Why did you stop?” “What did you see?” “Did you see behaviour changes?” “Don´t the dolphins love people?” “They seem to like when are around them…” “I did it and they loved seeing me!” Atlantic Spotted Dolphin - Stenella frontalis These are some of the comments, questions and insights I have gotten since we stopped this activity, late 2019. Well, there are a few aspects in need of attention. Yes, I have seen behaviour changes. But this is a personal view, there is no meaningful scientific study on this, sadly. My conclusion is that people, as much as they love Nature, feel they are entitled to the experience because THEY have the right motivation, THEY deserve it because THEY have their hearts in...

It was one of those May afternoons, grey, misty, somewhat breezy. It had been raining and the hole town of Horta was wet. Not really in the mood for a day at the sea, but it was not a great day weather wise. We had a few returning guests –Sally and Paul, who are friends–   supposed to stay for 12 days and take two trips per day. Yes, 2 trips per day! They wanted to give it a try. Together with some other participants, including Jaime from Spain –or the “Crazy Spaniard”, as we named him…– with 6 passengers on board. Things looked promising! The lookout gave us the information we were expecting, Sperm whales spotted, south of Pico island, not far from the coast. Off we went. Usual logistics, experienced customers, me as the Skipper, Marc and Nacho as guides and photographers. After some time, narrowing the Sperm whales position with the very useful hydrophone, a big male surfaced. Full speed, approach, slow down… Creep up behind the giant, no reaction. “Cool!”, we all thoug...