Over the years while I was in the Azores I got to see some nice sunsets, both by boat and from land. The west of the island was definitely the best, particularly from the coastline of Mosteiros, looking out towards the setting sun with the islets of Mosteiros in the foreground.
In January 2013, a male orca arrived to São Miguel and he was later followed by a pod of several females and young that visited the island sporadically until the end of May. It turned out to be the best year on record to see orcas in the Azores, so we felt very lucky that they had chosen our island for whatever reason. I still find it fascinating that almost nothing is known about the orcas seen in the Azores. They have not yet been assigned to an existing orca ecotype, and we don't even know where they come from or go when they are not in close proximity to the Azores islands. When I have seen them here, I observed them feeding on loggerhead turtles (one orca even breached with a turtle in his mouth and released it mid-air so that the poor turtle went flying before being devoured). I have also seen them chasing dolphins and our famous male that first arrived in January was toying with a stingray. Hence this male orca is still known today as "Mr Ray".
