Resident sperm whale families year-round, plus blue and fin whales passing on migration in spring, one of the few places you…Resident sperm whale families year-round, plus blue and fin whales passing on migration in spring, one of the few places you can see the two largest animals on earth in the same week. Risso's, bottlenose and spotted dolphins, and mobula rays and blue sharks on the offshore banks. The Azores hunted sperm whales from open boats with hand harpoons until 1984, one of the last places on earth to do so, and the same families and lookout towers (vigias) now run the whale watching, spotting from the same clifftop posts. Horta's marina wall, painted by every crossing yacht for decades, is a maritime institution. Anchorage: Horta marina, the traditional mid-Atlantic crossing stop, with the painted harbour wall. Hazards: Mid-Atlantic weather changes fast; the channel between Faial and Pico funnels wind. More