02.08.2024 – Day of surprises

You always experience something new at sea. Today there was an unusual combination of two dolphin species. I saw this for the first time in 19.5 years as a whale watching guide.

The Risso dolphin (Grampus griseus) is an extremely impressive marine species. These animals are characterised by their robust body and characteristic rounded head. Adults reach a length of up to four metres and can weigh up to 500 kilograms. The skin of Risso’s is usually grey in young adulthood, but turns white with age. The skin is often covered with many scars from social interactions and fights with conspecifics, or from the parrot beaks of squid. These animals are found in all temperate and tropical seas of the world. They favour deeper waters along continental shelves and are often found near submarine trenches and seamounts. The diet of Risso dolphins consists mainly of squid, but they also eat fish and crustaceans. Their hunting methods are extremely co-operative and often spectacular, as they hunt their prey together. These dolphins are known for their acrobatics and often perform impressive leaps. This is what happened today.

The Rough-toothed dolphin (Steno bredanensis) is a lesser-known species of the dolphin family, characterised by its distinctive, rough teeth. These dolphins have a slender build and reach a length of around two to 2.5 metres. Their skin is grey, often with lighter spots and a white belly. They can be found in tropical and subtropical waters around the world, especially in deeper marine regions far from the coast. They live in social groups that can consist of ten to 50 individuals. These dolphins are fast swimmers and are known to swim alongside boats and perform spectacular leaps. Their diet consists mainly of fish and squid, which they hunt in the middle to deep water layers.

In addition to these two species, we also saw striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) and Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis).

There were also surprises on the second tour. Fin whales travelled along Madeira’s coast. And our beautiful Risso’s dolphins were there to be seen.

The Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) is the second largest animal in the world and belongs to the group of rorquals. These majestic marine mammals can reach a length of up to 25 metres and weigh up to 80 tonnes. Fin whales are known for their slender physique and the asymmetrical colouring of their heads: the right lower jaw is lighter than the left. They live in all the world’s oceans, but favour cold and temperate waters. Fin whales feed mainly on small fish, krill and other small marine animals, which they filter through their baleen. When swimming, they reach speeds of up to 50 km/h, which has earned them the nickname “greyhound of the seas”.

On the evening tour we saw everything that sometimes likes to be in the air. Cory’s shearwaters, Bulwer’s storm petrels, flying fish and wonderfully leaping Striped dolphins.

Each tour was great in its own way, special and showed that surprise is always a key factor in nature.

By Fatima Kutzschbach

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:30 Striped dolphins, Risso dolphins

13:30 Fin whales

Stenella

09:30 Striped dolphins, Risso dolphins, Rough-toothed dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins

14:00 Fin whales, Risso dolphins

17:00 Striped dolphin