Laurent Geslin - Vatican, The Final Mission

I am starting to be used to roam the streets of big capitals looking up for anything wild between buildings and urban parks. But as usual, the difficulties in shooting urban wildlife is to get the authorizations first. After several weeks of emails, phone calls, we finally got the permission to photograph in the Vatican’s garden.

But with the scheduled exhibition right ahead and the short delay I could only shoot for 2 days and in fact, 2 mornings, as the garden is closed the afternoons.

The garden is around 24 hectares and very tidy. We can’t really call it a « Wild » place. But nevertheless, I could count 22 species of birds in or flying over the park. Within those species, the Blue Rock Trush (Monticola solitarius), the peregrine falcon and the Monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus). Originally from South America, this colorful bird is very easy to spot with its high pitch sound and its massive nest.

Most of the interesting wildlife is in the northern part of the garden. An unreachable stip tiny patch of uncut long grass and wild flowers is hosting the first insects of the season , the green woodpecker comes regularly to try its luck in the woody area. The Vatican’s garden is a perfect exemple that if you leave a part of your backyard’s mower-free-zone, you’ll see a much richer biodiversity than on your tidy lawn.

From the garden I had a good view of the famous St Peter’s Basilica where at least two couples of kestrels had done their nests. I even saw a pair mating on the holy place! Surely, it is not on Notre Dame de Paris that I would’ve witnessed that kind of behaviour! Haaaa, Italians’ Amore…

Laurent Geslin / Wild Wonders of Europe

Janne & Marcus in Scotland - The Grand Prize Trip III

We had done quite much mountain climbing in couple of days, so had little heavy legs in friday morning.
There was no mountain climbing scheduled on friday, only hide photography, looking for capercaillie and traveling to Alladale… so nice little recovering day.

The day started with hide photography. It was little quiet at first, but after an hour the birds came. All at the same time! Same pattern was repeated at the whole morning.
All birds always came at the same time. So there was really quiet times, but also times for real action. We got good pictures of Great Spotted Woodpecker, treecreeper, Chaffinch etc…

After we had our dinner, we went to find the capercaillie. We had been quite lucky since this, but you cannot always win! So we didn’t found capercaillie this time.

When we came back to Pete’s, we started to pack our bags, because it was time to move to Alladale. After couple hours driving, we arrived at Alladale, and all those landscapes looked quite nice when looked through Finnish eyes. Nice rivers flowing between beautiful cliffs, and mountains one after another. The Ghillie’s rest looked very nice and the landscapes around it too, but there were some clouds on the sky.

In saturday morning, we decided to try first with red deers. Our guide Munk came to pick us up, and we headed to another glen where the red deers should be. Suprise suprise, it was raining again, but we got many nice red deer pictures. We also photographed wild boars in Alladale, and got quite a many different kind of pictures about those beautiful animals. In Alladale we also saw couple of elks, and got pictures of those too. Unfortunately, the time goes fast, and it was time to head back to Pete’s in sunday afternoon… luckily with some of thousends of pictures richer.

We didn’t found the capercaillie last time, but we decided to try one more time before we went back to Pete’s. In this time we were more luckier, and we did managed to find that capercaillie.

Lots of pictures and many new species for us to photograph, but it was sunday, and it was time for us to move back to southern UK for the Epson UK printing day. After we had played billiard championchips of the Ballintean, Pete drov us to the Kingussie train station. We had sleeper tickets for night train, so at the monday morning we woke up in London.

Scott Frankham from Epson UK was waiting us in Apsley train station, and we walked with him to the new Epson UK office building. First we studied how people see colors, color management, and things like that. After that, we printed some of our pictures with Epson Stylus Pro 3800 series printer and tried learned things in real life. We had many different kind and size photo papers available, but as everyone knows, the bigger is better… so in A2 size we printed. Those new Epson printers can deliver such a breathtaking image quality! Of course the imagefile has to be very good also, but that wasn’t the problem because we both had Nikon D3s DSLR-bodies that can produce very good image quality even at the low light! With the D3s’ Nikon had also loaned to us the very best of their lenses like AF-S 14-24/2.8, AF-S 70-200/2.8 VR II and AF-S 500/4 VR. We both used those equipment in really a hard weather conditions, and they worked like a dream! After a week of hard wind and rain, I can say that those new Nikon professional equipments are really really weatherproof.

After Epson printing day, we both headed to the airports to catch our flights to home.
- It’s always nice to travel, but it’s also great to come home!

Janne Heimonen & Marcus Valeur / Wild Wonders of Europe

Magnus Lundgren - Azores, Portugal III

Coastal Marine Life and a Submerged Mountain around Faial & Princess Alice

Stuff! There is an abundance of “stuff” on the pavement in front of me. The sun shines in a soft pre-morning way on it. I am waiting for Norberto, sometimes referred to as the diver in the Azores, by a steep and winding road in Horta. We have not met since 8 years. Waiting makes me a bit bored and I spend the time viewing, with concerned eyes, all my “stuff” dragged down from the second floor.

My thoughts drift and I visualize an equipment diagram. Where does the curve effort meet the curve benefit equipment-wise and where am I on this diagram?

I shift my thoughts to the other side of that coin and realise how dependent I am as a diver on my regulator and other dive equipment supplying me with gas on every breath. A life support system, for real. I think about all the effort made by so many people to place me in the Azores in front of an amazing sperm whale of the deep. There and then my camera’s shutter must operate accurately on every frame and the lens must perform tack sharp images all the time. No second chance, no moments that can be repeated. In my mind it would be an insult to “the joint effort made” not to use reliable equipment. I sit down on one of the hard cases and take a sip of my coffee. I look at the mountain of equipment again. Instead of hostility I feel warm inside.

A deep voice startles me from behind with a “Hallooo, Magnus!”. I swing around and he looks the same as all those years ago. Deep and vivid eyes, big salty beard, a rugged charisma and a pair of flip-flop shoes. Norberto instantly says: “This is my dog Simba. It is a very nice dog. Let’s go to the marina!” We load everything into his small car and Norberto, myself, his nice dog Simba and all my equipment drive down to the famous harbour of Horta in Faial. It is time for a week of underwater photography around Faial with Norberto.

The marine life in the middle of the Atlantic is not only diverse but also very numerous from the tiniest critters like nudibranchs and ghost shrimps through a versatile fish soup of wrasses, parrotfish, moray eels and pelagics up to the great mammals, rugged reptiles and sleek elasmobranchs that roam this coastline. A busy place and as a photographer it is easy to get overwhelmed and unfocused. My method is to evaluate every subject. Either I skip it or go all the way with it. Simultaneously - I know, I am a man and it sounds unrealistic - my brain should shoot sketch shots of the surroundings, finding new subjects, backgrounds and scenery for coming dives. I am amazed - it worked pretty well!

Marco, Norberto’s divemaster and a skilled diver and spotter, was assigned to be my buddy. Meaning he is the poor guy I will wear out. The week passed very fast for me but I guess it was slightly longer for Marco. He showed me the dynamics of the coastline. A big cave filled with freezing cold water, a shipwreck cluttered with thrilling macro subjects and a gargantuan stingray guarding it. We investigated seamounts in the current, discovered the never ending rocky shoreline and of course we explored, my favorite, the sandy plains. As a photographer I could stay for months and much more.

One day the weather “allowed” us to go for a hidden gem. A place as mystical as far away from Horta. We set out to find the peak of a huge underwater mountain 85 km straight out at sea - the Princess Alice bank! The rocking hours to reach this place quickly disappeared in a haze as I grabbed the anchor line and descended. I passed straight through a dreamy school of game fish. The deeper I got the bigger the amberjacks became. After a couple of minutes I could see the top of this mountain and the amberjacks were over one meter long now. Out of the blue a massive school of barracudas swept by and as this striped curtain moved away the bank was there in front of me.

The water is nice and blue and a bit warmer than closer to Faial. The top of the seamount is at 35 meters and most of the dive is deeper. My limited bottom time is like a whip and I force myself to patience. Firmly I tell myself - Do not stray and do not search! A couple of very bulky stingrays come around and one of them runs me over like a territorial statement. I stay my ground and a short distance away some moray eels are swimming around outside their lairs. Maybe searching for food. These beautiful yellow-patched species are called marbled or Mediterranean moray. I feel a rush of gratitude being here.

I constantly scan the water column above me to see if my main target, the manta or mobula rays, will appear. Already my dive computer is using a bad language at me and with regret I start the long and slow ascent. A big manta ray swims into view as if it knew I was leaving. I swing around to keep my reference, there is the line. Two huge stingrays rise from the rocky seamount and the three rays perform a dazzling dance in the blue. I stay a few extra minutes and clueless to why the benthic stingray mixed with the pelagic manta in the blue I finally make my way up to the boat.
The rest of the day we spend over the seamount looking for devil rays, Mobula tarapacana, to appear close to the surface. The devil ray looks like a manta ray but it is smaller and thinner, growing to a maximum wingspan just over 3 meters. The water is still too cold to get the gathering of Mobulas, according to Norberto. We do a second dive and the same fantastic scenery re-appears but no mantas or devil rays come around.

After two weeks of pelagic free diving in the dynamic blue south of Pico and one week of thrilling scuba diving around Faial it is time to head back home. I leave the Azores worn out, but worn out in the best possible way. Hard drives bulging with RAW files, a heart filled with emotions and an even greater fascination of Azorean reality. The Azores are a Wild Wonder of Europe and let us keep it like that.

In a way personal positive experiences in nature is like a conservation act in itself. Happy memories, affection, compassion and emotional links helps us to make every day decisions in a better direction. So everybody – no matter if it is just outside your doorstep or distant - visit our inspiring European nature as often as you can.

I want to send my big thanks to the crew and management of Wild Wonders who shows knowledge, courage, backbone and passion for the important conversation of European wildlife. I am proud You put trust in my work.

Best fishes,

Magnus Lundgren / Wild Wonders of Europe

The Atlantic Ocean covers 20% of the earth’s surface and is the second largest ocean in the world. On average it is the saltiest major ocean with surface water salinity in the open sea ranging from 3.3 to 3.7% by mass. The Coriolis effect circulates the North Atlantic water in a clockwise direction, whereas South Atlantic water circulates counter-clockwise. The Atlantic Ocean appears to be the second youngest of the five oceans. Apparently it did not exist prior to 130 million years ago, when the continents that formed from the breakup of the ancestral super continent, Pangaea, were drifting apart from seafloor spreading.

David Maitland - Lake Prespa, Macedonia III

18th – 24th June, 2009
The mountains of Galičica National Park dominate the west side of Macro Prespa Lake. Clouds hang ominously over the ridge feeding the oak-cloaked east slope with rain. Mountain pastures are at their best as we drive through the clouds. A cold front followed us to Stenje bringing with it rain and storms. Snow still clings to steep crevices along the mountain pass.

Days are spent on the mountain above Stenje, a small rural village hugging the north west corner of macro Prespa Lake, taking pictures of butterflies including Checkered skippers, beautiful Fritillaries, Marbled whites and Blues, all amongst the wildflowers – purple carnations, yellow and white yarrows,  and with each step the scent of herbs – heaven! An unusual neuropteran – an owl-fly, Ascalaphus libelluloides, with spectacular black and yellow markings, hawks for flies above my head. Later I manage a shot when it comes down to rest on grass - weird, primitive and a close relative of mayflies. Moths and giant crickets, reveal themselves later, all to the chorus of cuckoos.

Macro Prespa Lake is well known for its rich bird life. We saw a yellow oriole flying above trees along the shoreline, and watched amazed as a brown eagle swooped headlong down the slope of the mountain in front of us. We enjoyed coffee in the evening to the sounds of a little owl screeching from its nest above our heads in the roof of our hotel in Stenje. Afternoons were epitomized by the jingle of 6 cows and their bells as they munched on the lakeside meadow  – the natural grass cutters.
The shore of Macro Prespa Lake was overrun with toadlets and froglets. So many, we had to watch where we walked; emerging from the lake to march up the sand away from their parents who have a tendency towards cannibalism. White pelicans soared the thermals and bullied cormorants for their fish, and egrets grunted as they flew parallel to the shore line to stand in the water, spearheaded, well adapted for catching frogs and fish.

The Macro Prespa Lake frogs were green - I photographed their gorgeous patterned skin along with their frowning faces. One night, at about 3 am, I woke up to claps of thunder and lightening so bright that the room stayed illuminated for what seemed like seconds, whilst images of lightening bolts burned on my retina, sheet lightening shone above. I went outside to take pictures and stumbled over a European green toad on the doorstep. The most remarkable thing about this gorgeous green-patched toad was its chirpy sing-song as I moved it out of harm’s way - the first “talking toad” that I have come across – delightful.
The trip has been note worthy for the lack of snakes, perhaps because of the cold ambient temperature, high altitude, and rain! We did find a beautiful intact shed skin from a large whip snake threaded through the holes a hand made clay brick.  Lizards, however, were a little more obliging as they dozed off while basking in brief flashes of afternoon sun on the sandy lakeshore.
The trip has not been without its moments of adrenaline. A very large wasp - a good 5 cm long with a massive orange head and tiger-striped abdomen buzzed around my head scaring the living day lights out of me! This Mammoth wasp was as large and impressive as any fearsome wasp I have seen in tropical Jungles around the world.
The persistent rains brought out large edible snails. I spent some time lying on my belly trying to capture the snail’s tiny pinhole-camera eye and its “bunny-rabbit” face.

Macedonia has been remarkable for its rich diversity of wild flowers and insect life. Farming practices appeared traditional and “low-tech” - overgrown areas were scythed rather than being treated with deadly herbicides or mowers. I made a series of pictures (plants were collected from roadside scythe cuttings, and butterflies were picked off the road having been killed by passing traffic) to highlight the apparent contempt we tend to have for common things - here they are the “weeds” persecuted and excluded from our countryside for the sake of “agriculture” and flower beds for the sake of “gardening”. Yet by doing this, we endanger and remove all the other organisms that depend on them for their existence. It is no wonder that bees are in serious trouble throughout Europe. It seemed to me that the countryside in Macedonia is a mirror into the past and a reminder of how much biodiversity we have lost in the UK and other parts of Europe as a result of damaging “modern” farming practices.

David Maitland / Wild Wonders of Europe

David Maitland - Lake Ohrid, Macedonia II

15th – 17th June, 2009

The weather is spectacular. Dark blue mountains under a clear blue sky reflected in flat calm pastel blue water – Wow!  A continuum of reflections and light make the butterflies, poppies, dragonflies, reed frog, damselflies and shoals of native Ohrid lake Bleak (a small minnow-like fish) look amazing. I rely on this high quality natural light, trying to get low to my subject with the light behind.

A frog lying motionless at the bottom of the lake sees me and rapidly swims to the surface and away. As I search for it, a snake swims past – wonderful (except that I did not manage a single shot). The sounds too are remarkable- the chattering reedbirds and gargling frogs.

I spend hours wading in the shaded cold reed water looking for dragonflies and damselflies or I dip below to follow shoals of fish. On land I contort myself around grasses, frozen so as not to frighten the butterflies that were feeding in the 30 degrees heat.

The following day is split by the arrival of a massive thunderstorm. Lightening lights the sky as we make our way across Galičica National Park heading towards Lake Prespa.

My daughter Laura helps me navigate. I see a valley – a mountain pass – ahead. “That must be where the road goes through,” I say optimistically. I was wrong, she was right; looking at the map the road we needed to be on turned back to cut into the rock with precipitous edging and rose to 1600m along hairpin bend after hairpin bend. I was staggered - it seemed more like a ladder than a road! The mountain slopes were cloaked with pristine deciduous forest of oak, sycamore, ash…over 30 different types of tree – the greatest diversity of deciduous trees in Europe.

Visit again to see how the mission progresses on the shores of Lake Prespa.

David Maitland / Wild Wonders of Europe

Marcus & Janne in Scotland - The Grand Prize Trip II

We had a tough day yesterday (Wednesday) with a lot of walking in rough terrain, a lot of uphill, with heavy camera bags. Today should be even tougher …

The day started thankfully quiet in one of Peter’s hiding places. There, we took picture of the red squirrel, crested tit, woodpecker and other types of birds.

At 11 Mark Hamblin came, he was our guide for the day, it was a pleasure meeting him. After a 30 minute drive, we were suddenly surrounded by mountains. It was pretty hard to walk to Mark’s amazing location for mountain hares, but when we first arrived, the entire walk was forgotten.

There were mountain hares in tons, and although not everyone was as approachable as we would like, we came pretty close on a couple of them.

After a few hours of intensive shooting, we could go back home in the strong wind and rain, but still with a smile on our lips. The camera bags was as heavy as before (luckily the pictures don’t weigh anything), but we couldn’t feel the pain …

Marcus Valeur (as Janne was already asleep…) / Wild Wonders of Europe

Marcus & Janne in Scotland - The Grand Prize Trip I

We met in Heathrow airport, and continued our trip together. First bird pictures we took in Heathrows Central bus station, by using a bait. But we have to stop it, because feeding of the pigeons were not allowed. Marcus did got a real keeper pigeon shot with manual focus and 14-24mm wide angle.

Some hours of traveling, and then Pete picked us up at Inverness airport. Day one turned to evening, but we did go to take some landscape shots of Scottish ice in sunset.

The main subject of the day two was the ptarmigan. In the morning, we packed our stuffs to Pete’s Range rover and headed to the mountains.

Lots of walking to mountains, and lots of sweating. But we managed to find ptarmigans to photograph! Altough they were little more timid than usual. Maybe because of the weather?

We also saw lots of red grouses, but they were even much more timid than the ptarmigans. But we managed to got some red grouse images also!

Birds, but also mammals… Pete founded a mountain hare, and so we got couple of mountain hare images. Maybe we have couple of mountain hare images more at tomorrow, because the mountain hare is the main subject of the day three!

Janne & Marcus / for Wild Wonders of Europe

David Maitland - Galičica National Park, Macedonia I

15th June 2009 – Introduction

Wild Wonders of Europe has brought me to Macedonia to photograph “small things” in Galičica National Park, a spectacular mountain range rising to 2254 m between Lake Ohrid to the west and Lake Prespa to the east. These stunning lakes sit high in this mountain range, with Prespa at 850m and Ohrid at 693m, and the feeling, colour, weather systems, insects, amphibians, and reptiles all changed according to which slope or lakeside on which you were standing.

However, one thing was clear – this was a spectacularly beautiful part of Europe.

The drive from Skopje airport down the length of this small country some 400km or so to our first stop at the small lakeside village of Lagadin was spectacular – Mountains of emerald green trees, pasture and farm land being tended by hand – tall grass meadows were being scythed by families - children, mothers and fathers. “Mel” said the signs selling honey at the roadside, Lombardy poplars climbing through the hot air into blue skies. Macedonia was looking more and more like “Europe’s best kept secret!”

We were lucky to arrive just as the wildflowers were reaching their peak - I am overwhelmed by their spectacular display and by the attendant clouds of butterflies. Life is everywhere. I unpack the camera gear and walk to the lakeside to take a closer look - Lake Ohrid is teaming with fish beneath the water and dragonflies above – great subjects for a first day’s work.

Lagadin is nestled on the east side of Lake Ohrid in the west of Galičica National Park we watch awe-struck as the sun sets slowly over the mountain range on the far side of the lake.

Visit again to see how the mission progresses.

David Maitland / Wild Wonders of Europe

Danny Green - Bass Rock, Scotland

My final mission for Wild Wonders of Europe was to visit the most famous Gannet colony in the UK, Bass Rock. The Bass is situated in the firth of forth on the East Coast of Scotland. This colony is one the world’s largest with over 150,00 birds visiting during the breeding season.

The Gannet colony on the Bass has more than doubled its number in a twenty five year period from just over twenty thousand pairs to nearly fifty thousand breeding pairs  - an amazing explosion in numbers. It’s so different from all the other Gannet colonies in the UK because most of the others are situated on remote outer lying islands that take hours to get too, but Bass Rock is only just over a mile from the mainland and you can actually see the birds flying around.

This was supposed to be the easier of the three colonies that I was going to visit for my missions for Wild Wonders of Europe and so I was more relaxed about getting to this spectacular Island. I had already made contact with the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick about getting permission to land and I was really grateful to Maggie Sheddan for all her effort throughout the project. Maggie was a tremendous help in organising the boat to get me out there and without her this part of the project would have failed.
This was my biggest mistake in the project because I thought it would be easy to get on the Bass but in the end my jinx with Islands and boats came back to haunt me. I had to wait for a window of opportunity in the weather again but this time I could wait from the comfort of my own home because I could be up there on days notice ( luxury indeed ).

The weather forecast was good for a few days so a couple of phone calls and six hours later I was at North Berwick. I wanted to get some images of the Rock from the mainland and the weather was fantastic and I was greeted with the most amazing sunrise as it rose just over this special place, phase one, job done. Now I just wanted to get on the island for the evening and everything was going to plan but right up to just an hour before we were due to go out the wind had picked up and the skipper of the boat didn’t want to risk taking me out as it would have been too dangerous to land, frustrating again because the weather was fantastic and I had planned to get some evocative images of the Gannets just as the sun would set, the only place in the UK where I know how.

This is where Maggie came into her own and a round of phone calls later she had arranged for me to be out there at dawn with a different boat. It wasn’t too much of a disaster either because I did manage to get the shot of the Bass with the rising moon as well that evening (phase two complete or was that phase three).

At 4.00 am the next morning we had arranged to meet the skipper of a fishing vessel that would take us out to Bass Rock. It was still dark when we left but by the time we had got to the island dawn was upon us and the sight, sound and smell that greeted us was awesome, a truly memorable experience.

The other locations I had visited were earlier on in the season so I was getting displaying and nest building shots of the Gannets, for this trip I had timed it so I would be getting images of the adults with their young chicks. The chicks were of various ages and some were not far off from fledging and others still had the white downy plumage, it was these that were far more appealing, so I concentrated on these. The Gannets have one of the longest breeding seasons out of all the seabirds around UK waters which lasts from late January to late October and I was surprised at the difference in ages between many of the young.

I have to say that being amongst a gannet colony whilst the breeding season is in full swing is one the most amazing experiences to witness in nature and if you haven’t done it then make sure you do. I have had some ups and downs on my little mission to cover this beautiful and graceful seabird, but the memories will stay for a life time. Bass Rock certainly deserves and lives up to its reputation of one the true natural wonders of the world.

Danny Green / Wild Wonders of Europe

Magnus Lundgren - Azores - Zone pelagia, Portugal

During the sperm whale mission I found myself among many interesting inhabitants of the pelagic Atlantic Ocean. Occasionally these guys distracted me and became “attention-magnets”, as sperm whales were my main targets. But most of the time these ”non sperm whales” were a blessing for my brain and camera while I was waiting for sperm whales gone fishing. So let me introduce ”Zone pelagia” of the Azores.

Out there in the big Atlantic the greatest feeling is ”being small” in a world of constant change. Some days she rocks the boat gently as holding a newborn and just an hour later the powerful twin engines of the boat roar like dinosaurs in the merciless waves. Seeking shelter in the port of Lajes is the only sensible thing to do. We are humans, no more, no less, and the important sensation of being small, a part of a big picture, willing to adapt – is something I like.

Heading out the first day I got excited to see a Portuguese Man o’ War, Physalia physalis, sailing in the blue waves. This strange jellyfish is a great photo-subject so I pointed it out to Joao and he gave me one of those crooked smiles. ”Yes, I know Magnus. The filmmaker from History channel got severely burnt last week in his face. It was baaad and he cried like a baby!” Ehh…OK, was all I could say. Joao continued to rub it in. ”After that he used ladies nylon stockings over his face like a bank-robber as protection but never became really comfortable in the water again.”
At this point I raised my eyes not only to see one PMOW jellyfish. They were everywhere sailing around like small armadas of Portuguese stinging warships. My mouth got a bit drier and a sort of minefield feeling came creeping along my spine. This was happening 10 minutes into the first day out. My brain stopped trying to get used to the waves and started to calculate risks. The equation of swimming in full power mode to gain position in front of a whale while being careful and watching out for an armada of burning micro ships resulted in a red light blinking in my brain. I told myself  ”This will at least keep me alert, or maybe terrified is the correct word.” Then my mind drifted into thoughts on my insurance company’s policy around medical treatment in Portugal?

The number of jellyfish stayed high for three days but I luckily managed to swim through these minefields without incidents. Another surprise linked to the jellies was the number of sea turtles swimming around. In fact these loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta, are common in the open sea around the Azores. I even witnessed a loggerhead eating, yes it is true, a spicy PMOW jellyfish. I know their tough skin protects them against the stings but to swallow one of the fiercest stingers in the sea is pretty harsh. The loggerheads do not only have an out-of-the-ordinary hot menu, they are also fantastic free divers. They can stay underwater for up to 7 hours. Although outdone by freshwater turtles, these are the longest dives for any air-breathing marine vertebrate.

The Azores is famous for the spectacular and numerous dolphins around the islands. The common dolphins form the biggest pods and being quite easy to approach they quickly became my personal favorite. We cruised along them, dived with them or just hung out with them. The shorter and more explosive striped dolphins were more difficult and always on the move, and the odd Rissos look like a tattooed beluga whale. After a few days the joyful Atlantic spotted dolphins made their arrival for the season and this was like a salute that summer had arrived, for sure, to the Azores. For half a day we had a group of sturdy and tough bottlenose dolphins following “our” pod of 9 sperm whales making them nervous and unapproachable in the water.

Another species we encountered and dived with regularly were the jet-black short-finned pilot whales, Globicephala macrorhynchus. They gather in big pods, more than 60 individuals, and are known as the ”Cheetahs of the deep” due to high-speed pursuits of squids at depths of hundreds of metres. These fascinating animals belong to the dolphins family and to swim with the pilot whales is an exciting and very tiring experience.

There are not only dolphins and whales in the sea outside Pico. This dynamic place was showing a fantastic variety of shapes, colours and skills among the inhabitants - jelly fish, schooling mackerels and sardines, cruising sei whales, sneaky beaked whales, breaching sperm whales and many, many sea birds all looking for food. Even human garbage like ropes, buoys and barrels become floating reefs completely covered in filter feeding barnacles and creating food platforms for clinging crabs, nudibranchs and shrimps. Solitary or schooling fish associate with these floating filter feeding “objects”. One of the most spectacular fish, in my opinion, around is the small and striking red boarfish, Capros aper. Science suggests these fish only live below a depth of 40 meters but I frequently met small schools around floating items at depths less than one 1 meter.

One interesting thing to look out for in the sea is relationships between very different species. One good example was when the common dolphins were hunting mackerels in the waves and the Cory’s shearwaters were doing the same from the top. This seemed to be a win-win situation for bird and dolphin but very much a loose-loose for the mackerels that were eaten until the very last fish.  This elimination took only 3-4 minutes and was a well-executed team effort.

The strangest animal I met in the Azorean blue was the weird ocean sunfish, Mola mola. We encountered this massive fish on three different occasions. It is actually known to be the biggest bonefish on earth with an average adult weight of more than 1 ton! Just like the loggerhead turtle the Mola mola likes spicy food and is also eating the jelly fish Portuguese Man o’ War. This fish has a huge round flat body with two big fins, small mouth and big eyes. The big surprise for me was its swimming speed….or maybe it was just me being slow.

All I can say is: the middle of the sea is a stunning place to be! Last blog coming soon describing the dynamic coastal marine life of the island next to Pico called Faial and the distant outer bank Princesa Alice. Stay tuned.

Magnus Lundgren / Wild Wonders of Europe

[The sea is a humongous place covering 71% of the earth and the average depth is almost 4 kilometers. The pelagic sea is by definition any water that is not close to the bottom. So on a geometrical scale the proportions of this world are cosmic bearing in mind that different light and temperature zones create different layers of habitats. The sunlit zone is called the epipelagic zone that is exposed to enough sunlight for photosynthesis to happen. In the open sea this means from the surface to a depth of maximum 200 meters depending on water clarity.]