09.06.2023 – Turn of the tide

After a few rainy, stormy days our team finally managed to get back to our favourite place, the Atlantic Ocean. The fringe of storm Oscar still brought some decent swell to the archipelago’s waters, making time on the water a little difficult for some of our guests today, and the minefield of debris swept into the ocean by the gigantic amounts of rain also made manoeuvring near the coast a challenge for our captains. Thankfully, the experience of our team helped us achieve a successful day at sea with lovely sightings. 

A pod of Short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) with calves in tow had remained in the safety of the islands waters during the storm and were seen during our morning tour aboard the Ribeira Brava and later in the afternoon on our rib. Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) were also passing through the southwestern waters today and delighted our guests during the midday tour with their curious approaches to our boat. Later in the afternoon a small pod of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) also showed some curiosity towards our Stenella and approached the boat after a series of dives in the murky coastal waters. The cloudy skies soon cleared and the swell in front of Calheta receded to expose two larger baleen whales heading west. Our spotter located the animals and immediately sent our team to the site and we managed a lovely sighting with a Sei whale (Balenoptera borealis) the third largest and fastest of all the baleen whales. 

The day was also a great start for our summer guide Camíla on our speedboat, who managed to enjoy some more diversity at sea after her first stormy week in Madeira. This change in weather has brought a hopeful turn of the tide and our team is definitely ready for more!

By Paula Thake

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:30 Short-beaked common dolphins

Stenella

13:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins

16:00 Bottlenose Dolphins, Sei whale, Short-beaked common dolphins