Pelagic Blue 💦💙💦

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Sao Miguel, Azores, Atlantic Ocean, September 2018

Since mid August, we have been based on the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores, a group of islands in the Atlantic which we have been to eight times since our very first adventure here back in 2003.

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Getting here is coming home. Around this green oasis, all surrounded by the blue Atlantic Ocean, new adventures await each time.

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This last months, we have been very lucky with the weather, allowing us to spend most of the weeks out at sea, where days are spent searching for pelagic life, and nights either at anchor...

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... or by drift anchor!

To choose to drift at night instead of heading back to the islands, provides us the opportunity to give more remote pelagic areas a visit.

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The pelagic blue that fascinates me so much! 💙 One might feel alone when all surrounded by this deep blue oceanic water, which often reaches thousands of meters beneath the keel of the boat...

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But we are not alone... For the observant eye, there is always something to notice and get thrilled about!

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During our weeks on the water, close and far from land, we have encountered many beautiful, interesting but also sad encounters.

The following screenshots pictures a devil ray, giant fire salp and a dead shark, still with a hook in its mouth...

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Our main reason this time however, to spend days and nights out on the blue, is dolphins! The following are Atlantic spotted dolphins 🐬

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It is many hours of searching included when the aim is to find cooperative groups of dolphins appreciating our company as much as we theirs. When we do so, the shared happiness becomes double happiness!!

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With such groups, we can spend several hours together with the animals as they again and again return to the yacht to circle around it, do bowriding or to satisfy their curiosity by having a closer look. 😍💦