10.07.2019 – Clicks and whistles

We sometimes say on our whale/dolphin watching trips, that the animals we see are having a little human watching trip. This little joke is actually not complete nonsense, some curious dolphins, like the Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) we saw today, do come close to us, turn on their side, and have a little look at the people on the boat. We occasionally see spy-hops as well, a typical dolphin behaviour where they pop up, holding theirs heads out of the water, to have a little look around above the surface. But the world of dolphins is not as purely as visual as we might think. Should you jump overboard in the middle of a group of dolphins, you would be surprised by what you heard.

First of all, don’t jump overboard! Spooking animals is never a good idea, and a 650kg Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) can be quite intimidating in the water. But if you did have a listen to the sounds of our friends under the boat, you would hear a busy conversation of clicks and whistles.

Many dolphins, like bottlenoses, are known to have signature sounds like a name, and recent studies on biphonation finds that Atlantic spotted dolphins are able to make 2 whistles at the same time, allowing for very complex communication. We may not be able to understand them yet. But as a Striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) signals the group that it’s time to move, the whole pod can shoot of in a second, in the same direction.

So as we reflect on another beautiful day out on the water, we can say that the dolphins taught us something: the value of communication. Because with good communication we can achieve all our goals, be it a project at work, a strong relationship or a tasty fish!

By Scott Dorssers

Sightings of the day

Stenella

9:00 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Striped dolphins

Ribeira brava

9:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins, Striped dolphins

13:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins