03.07.2019 – Go with the flow

Part of responsible whale watching is preparation, when our spotter leads us to a sighting he also informs the captain how the animals are behaving. This lets us make our approach at the right speed, from the right direction and helps us create a stress-free encounter.

As we approached a group of dolphins today we saw the typical evasive jump-travelling manner of a group of Striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba ) it quite surprised us then to suddenly see the iconic markings of a Short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) on some of the individuals popping up out of the water! Some species of dolphin are known to mingle and travel together, and it seems that these common dolphins, who usually are fond of a little bow riding and likely to check us out, this time decided to go with the flow of the striped dolphins, jumping out of the water as they picked up speed to go and find a quieter piece of ocean.

Luckily, we found some more species today, that were keen to hang out with our lovely Ribeira Brava, the Atlantic Spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) we saw today were as charming as ever, as they greeted us in the manner we were also expected from the Commons dolphins earlier. And we were also treated to some friendly Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) a species that can be a bit fickle as some groups we see are keen to have a look at our boat, where others tend to dive and dodge like were playing a game of hide and seek.

Combined, these sightings made for another beautiful day in paradise on the bright blue waters that surround our little lush green gem of an island.

By Scott Dorssers

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

13:30 Atlantic Spotted Dolphin, Short-beaked Common Dolphin, Striped dolphin, Bottlenose dolphin.