Weekly Update August #4

In the past week we found dolphins in all but one of the dolphin watching tours. The tour without dolphins, we got too much wind (bft4) and only managed to see a Fin Whale that day. We sighted 3 dolphin species, the common dolphin, striped dolphins and bottlenose dolphins. We we also had harbour porpoises (picture) and 3 days with Fin Whales. Including a tour with 4 different species.

Additionally we found quite large sunfishes, swordfish and blue sharks.

On average, we had 10 guests per dolphin watching tour and 0 seasickness cases. Sea state was on average sea state 1. In the weekend we got quite windy conditions, ending up cancelling Sunday’s tour.

This following week we expect windy conditions until Wednesday 30th. We still plan to go out in the mornings, but we might have to cancel the tours of Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th. The rest of the week will have good sea conditions in the morning. The weekend might have some chance of showers.

We will open the Lisbon&Dolphins tour, the river tour between 30th and 2rd to provide the opportunity to check the tall ships from the tall ship race.

Weekly Update August #3

In the past week we found dolphins in all of the dolphin watching tours. We took half an hour or less to find the first dolphin group and we found at least a second group in all tours but one.We sighted 3 dolphin species, the common dolphin, striped dolphins and bottlenose dolphins. We we also had harbour porpoises and 4 days with Fin Whales. (picture)

On average, we had 10 guests per dolphin watching tour and 0 seasickness cases. Sea state was on average sea state 2.

This following week we expect near perfect mornings until the weekend. From Tuesday 22nd will to Thursday 24th we might plan tours on the afternoon, it will depend of the fog forecast. The weekend will be windy, hopefully we will not need to cancel the tours.

Weekly Update August #2

In the past week we found dolphins in all of the dolphin watching tours. We took less than half an hour to find the first dolphin group in all tours and in all of them we found at least a second group.

We sighted two dolphin species, the common dolphin and the striped dolphin. We also sighted harbour porpoises and 4 Fin Whales. (picture)

Additionally we found sunfishes and blue sharks.

On average, we had 10 guests per dolphin watching tour and 2 seasickness cases. Sea state was on average sea state 2.

This following week we expect windy days until the Friday 18th, so the tours will be only on the morning. It will be followed by near perfect sea conditions on Friday and weekend (we might do a tour on afternoon too).

Weekly Update August #1

In the past week we found dolphins in all of the dolphin watching tours. We took half an hour or less to find the first dolphin group in 30% of the tours and in all of them we found at least a second group.We sighted 2 dolphin species, the common dolphin and the striped dolphin. (picture) On average, we had 7 guests per dolphin watching tour and 1 seasickness case. Sea state was on average sea state 3. This following week we expect perfect wind conditions until Thursday, followed by a windy weekend. There is risk of fog between Wednesday 9th and Friday 11th. Fog will put in risk the chances of seeing a second group.

Weekly Update July #4

In the past week we found dolphins in all of the dolphin watching tours. We took half an hour or less to find the first dolphin group in all tours and in all of them we found at least a second group.

We sighted only one dolphin species, the common dolphin and we also had 2 days with Fin Whales. (picture)

On average, we had 10 guests per dolphin watching tour and 1 seasickness case. Sea state was on average sea state 2.

This following week we expect windy days until the weekend. We only will do tours in the morning and  Thursday 3rd will be might be too windy for going to the Ocean.

We will also not operate on Tuesday the 1st as the engine will be serviced. We also decided to keep the standard price at 60€ and rise it only on the 2nd week of August.

Weekly Update July #3

In the past week we found dolphins in all of the dolphin watching tours. We took half an hour or less to find the first dolphin group in all tours and in all of them we found at least a second group.

We sighted only one dolphin species, the common dolphin and we also had 2 sightings of Fin Whale. (picture)

On average, we had 8 guests per dolphin watching tour and 1 seasickness case. Sea state was on average sea state 3.

This following week we expect very windy afternoons, we only will do tours in the morning. Wednesday 26th and Friday 28th have the best sea conditions of the week.

Weekly Update July #2

We missed the first weekly update of July, we found dolphins in all of the dolphin watching tours of the past 2 weeks.
In the past week, we took half an hour or less to find the first dolphin group in 56% tours and only in 3 we didn’t found at least a second group.We sighted two dolphin species, the common dolphin and the bottlenose dolphin. We also had one sighting of blue shark and sun fish. We also had fin whales passing by the bay on the 14th, but didn’t managed to meet them as they were too far south.

On average, we had 8 guests per dolphin watching tour and 1 seasickness case. Sea state was on average sea state 2 and we got one day with underestimated forecast and got sea state 5, we managed to find dolphins with just some legs wet!

This following week we expect windy afternoons. We only will do tours in the morning, as finding dolphins in the afternoon would rely too much on luck.

Weekly Update June #5

In the past week we found dolphins in all of the dolphin watching tours. We took half an hour or less to find the first dolphin group in 75% tours and only one we didn’t found a second group.The Lisbon&Dolphins afternoon tours, had 75% chance rate of seeing dolphins.

We sighted two dolphin species, the common dolphin and the bottlenose dolphin. We also had one sighting of Sei Whale and harbour porpoise. We also had orcas passing by the bay on the 30th, but didn’t managed to find them (they eventually returned to the south).

On average, we had 9 guests per dolphin watching tour and 2 seasickness cases. Sea state was on average sea state 3 and we got one day with underestimated forecast and got sea state 5, we managed to find dolphins with just some legs wet!

This following week we expect windy days, specially in the afternoon. Only Friday and Saturday have light wind forecasted, with almost perfect conditions for dolphin watching. We only will do tours in the morning and all tours on Tuesday will be on hold, as the windy will be too disrupting.

Weekly report: June #3

In the past week we found dolphins in all of the dolphin watching tours. We took less than 30 min to find the first dolphin group in 80% of the tours and in all of them we found at least a second group.

The Lisbon&Dolphins afternoon tours, had 80% chance rate of seeing dolphins.

We sighted 2 dolphin species, the common dolphin were the most sighted species this week, followed by the bottlenose dolphins. In addition to dolphins we also have one sighting of two Harbour Porpoises.

On average, we had 10 guests per dolphin watching tour and no seasickness cases. Sea state was on average sea state 3 (picture).

This following week we expect windy afternoons and calm mornings. So far, only Thursday seems too be too windy for doing dolphin watching tours.

 

Weekly report: June #1

In the past week we found dolphins in all of the dolphin watching tours. We took less than 1h to find the first dolphin group in 50% tours and in all of them we found at least a second group.

The Lisbon&Dolphins afternoon tours, had 50% chance rate of seeing dolphins.

We sighted just one dolphin species last week, the common dolphin, normally groups with adults, juveniles and babies.

On average, we had 8 guests per dolphin watching tour and no seasickness cases. Sea state was on average sea state 1 (in the picture).

This week we expect very calm mornings perfect for dolphin watching and windy afternoons that will not be suitable. From Wednesday 7th to Friday 9th we expect degradation of sea conditions and maybe some rain. We will assess if is doable to rely only on the river to find the dolphins.

Update: From Wednesday 7th to Friday 9th there will be no tours, due poor sea conditions and lack of dolphins in the river. We expect the return of dolphins to the river on the weekend (10th-11th).