By decision of the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and the Sea, no further licences for the audiovisual record of cetaceans in the months of July and August this year will be issued. This decision was essentially motivated by the presence of young dolphins and sperm whales in the Azores and the effects of this activity on them. 
“The licenses already issued correspond to investments and expectations that we cannot simply ignore. However, we will not issue new licenses, and probably next year, we will not allow the collection of images the Central Group during the summer,” Stated Frederico Cardigos, the Regional Director for the Environment. “However, this decision may be further extended or adjusted according to the technical assessments that we are preparing.”
For this government official, the protection of animals must be inflexible. “From the moment when animals do not feel comfortable in the Azores, they will leave for new places. Moreover, our tourists are very demanding in terms of environmental protection and do not tolerate excessive pressure that sometimes happens. Hence, due to environmental and economic reasons, we had to take some action.”
In the International Year of Biodiversity, another step to protected marine mammals in the Azores is thus taken.  “Actually, we intend to extend the protection measures to cetaceans. Some reactions have been reported to us that point out to the need to further reduce the effort. We know that this can have a significant impact on the whale watching activity and therefore we will only put it into effect after careful discussion.”
Nearly three dozen cetacean species have been sighted in the Azores and about two dozen are commonly observed, thus making this archipelago one of the most privileged spots for watching whales and dolphins worldwide. Thanks to the environmental attitude of the Azores, in conjunction with sustainable tourism, the archipelago has been distinguished in various international publications on the subject, having been awarded the QualityCoast prize by a European organisation.