10.08.2024 – No Jonah…

Jonah is an old nautical term used often in whaling times. Based off of the biblical story of the man famously swallowed whole by a whale, to describe someone as a Jonah simply means they are cursed. Specifically, this bad luck would present itself in a simple way: a Jonah makes the whales go away. In the modern world, whale hunting is absolutely non-condonable; it is archaic and cruel. In the game of watching wildlife in the marine world, however, luck is still a major factor. One must have knowledge of your location, the species you want to see, their habitat, and their seasonal movements; furthermore, proper experience/control over your equipment is invaluable; however, in reality, right place and right time are the only two factors one really needs to see rare wildlife.

Today at 09:30 I had a beautiful tour on Stenella. All animals were as close as you could wish them. Not only Bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus), but Rissos (Grampus griseus), dolphins, and even Blainville’s Beaked Whales (Mesoplodon densirostris). I even got a photograph of a rare Feas petrel (Pterodroma feae). Already you must be thinking these guests were lucky. Imagine my surprise therefore when in a conversation post-tour one of the guests let me know he’d met one of our extremely rare Mediteraenen monk seals (Monachus monachus)…in Madeira…underwater..on his first dive on the island!!! Well, I think one thing is clear: that lads no Jonah.

By Peter Worth 

Sightings of The Day

Ribeira Brava

09:30 Blainville`s beaked whales, Bottlenose dolphins

13:30 Bottlenose dolphins

Stenella

09:30 Blainville Beaked Whales, Rissos Dolphins, Bottlenose Dolphins

14:00 Bottlenose Dolphins, Rough Toothed Dolphins