Summary
A one-week trip to Pico Island in July 2025 produced 14 mammal species; including 12 cetaceans seen during five days of whale-watching (on a group tour) from Lajes do Pico harbour. Highlights were a Dwarf Sperm Whale (the sixth record for the Azores) and a pod of six Pygmy Sperm Whales (one of the largest pods recorded, if not the largest). A paper by the group (Benak et al, 2025) on these Kogia sightings was published in Nov 2025. Other highlights were Sowerby’s Beaked Whale, Northern Bottlenose Whale and False Killer Whale. The endemic Azores Noctule was common in Lajes do Pico.