Sperm Whales of the Azores is a photographic journey of our five expeditions to the remote volcanic archipelago of The Azores to document and photograph their resident sperm whales. Our above and underwater photographs have documented new born calves feeding and interactions with their pod.
Whale socialisation in groups called ‘marguerites’ are shown in detail along with many other behaviours.
The story of the cachalot or sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus has captured the imagination of those who have plied the sea over many centuries. In medieval times, whales were viewed as deep sea monsters of unquestionable malicious intent. Despite its depiction in Moby Dick, the sperm whale is more of a gentle giant as we have found working with them in over 500 encounters.
The book includes our observations of sperm whale behaviour, a history of whaling including the part The Azores played including their traditional whaling methods.
We have used 280 images to showcase the fascinating story of these whales.
Sperm whales are listed as vulnerable to extinction on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
A permit from the Secretaria Regional do Mar, Ciência e Tecnologia is required to enter the water to photograph the whales and this is strictly enforced. All underwater images in this book were taken under permit.
ANZEC Member - Wayne Osborn
Wayne has been an active SCUBA diver and Underwater Photographer since 1974. He resides in Perth, Western Australia with his wife Pam. They have an interest in whale conservation and have travelled to the Azores, the Great Barrier Reef and Tonga to document sperm, minke and humpback whales. Wayne and Pam donate many of their images to whale researchers and have documented the migration of humpback whales along the Western Australian coast since 2006. Pam has photographed 2,500 individual humpbacks in that time. Their images have been included in numerous reference books and Wayne's image of a dwarf minke whale is on the cover of the 2nd edition of Marine Mammals of the World.Wayne was the Australian Geographic Australasian Nature Photographer of the Year in 2012.They have published a number of iBooks including "In Pursuit of Whales" and "A Long Lens in Africa - Birds of East & Southern Africa."
