04.10.2022 – Sahara greetings

What a special atmosphere this morning at sea. Everything was shrouded in haze and, like fog, visibility was very limited. Finding marine mammals in the middle of Este (sand from the Sahara) was truly a tricky business for our spotter. But he mastered it excellently. He found Short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) and Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) for us. A brilliant achievement!

The haze had sucked us in, the world around us disappeared. The stillness that had settled over the sea was broken only by the powerful exhalation sounds of the Pilot whales. The two species were distributed in different subgroups. The Pilot whales were in resting mode, while the Bottlenose dolphins stopped by one group and the other. We saw “spyhops” (animal put its head out of the water), we discovered very small calves, both in the Pilot whales and in the Bottlenose dolphins.

Marine mammals are social animals that support each other. Species that live together in matriarchy, such as Orcas, Sperm whales and Pilot whales, have a particularly close bond in the group. In Pilot whales, the support behavior is extremely intense. However, this can be fatal for the animals.

Squid lovers are deep divers. Pilot whales dive to depths of 600-700 meters to hunt. As our seas are getting louder, a sudden loud sound underwater, for example from airguns, can lead to a hasty surface and thus to disorientation and stranding. However, stranding sometimes has natural causes. Mass stranding of Pilot whales are common in New Zealand and Tasmania. This is triggered by the geographical conditions. These stranding of hundreds of Pilot whales take place where the often sandy seabed slopes gently and flat. The animals’ sonar finds no echo. When animals don’t get to deeper waters during low tide, they become stranded. In New Zealand, courses are regularly held by the national park to train the population on what to do when such mass stranding occur. I was lucky enough to take such a course once. We had to carry a plastic Pilot whale filled with water to simulate a weight of about a tonne (weight of an adult Pilot whale) out of the water and onto land. Why is this necessary? As long as the Pilot whales are still in the water, they will communicate with their group members. These will follow. Their supportive behavior does not allow them to abandon the stranded animals. In such a situation, the stranded animals are left on land until the next high tide comes in. Then, if possible, they can be released into the water. On September 22, 2022, 230 Pilot whales stranded in Tasmania.

Now that you know that these marine mammal species are often affected by mass stranding, they should be given special protection. Unfortunately, killings are being done to them in Japan/Taiji and also in the Faeroe Islands. As promised, here is the link to our petition page:

https://www.lobosonda.com/whale-watching/marine-protection/

by Fatima Kutzschbach

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

10:00 Pilot whales, Bottlenose dolphins

Stenella

10:00 Pilot whales, Bottlenose dolphins

15:00 Pilot whales, Bottlenose dolphins, Sperm whales