“The remote Portuguese archipelago, consisting of nine volcanic islands about 900 miles west of Lisbon, lies in the North Atlantic Ocean, putting it on the migration route of several whale species. And from March to June – whale migration season – lucky tourists may even catch a glimpse of behemoths like the blue whale and the fin whale, the two largest animals on the planet.

As well as migrating whales, the Azores also have resident cetaceans, including sperm whales and some dolphin species, which can be seen year-round. With nearly a third of the 94 known cetacean species in the world observed here, the archipelago consistently ranks as one of the best places on the planet to go whale watching.

But the centuries-old relationship between Azoreans and whales has not always been so harmonious, as Rui de Souza Martins, emeritus professor of Anthropology at the University of the Azores, explains.”

From CNN.