11.08.2023 – Priorities

Our eagerness to see dolphins often make us forget unimportant fact; dolphins are also constantly busy. They spend a significant amount of their day foraging for the food that they hunt, making the pursuit of their prey always the number one priority during hunting situations. During our snorkelling tour, the small group of Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) occasionally stopped hunting to examine our participants, before darting off to continue hunting their prey. We met the species during the afternoon too and, this time, the dolphins seems more busy socialising and engaged in the occasional bow-ride before tending to their conspecifics once more. 

While spotted dolphins are usually seen hunting at the surface, its very normal to watch Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) dive to hunt here in Madeira. We saw a small pod of them passing through the coastal waters today and, upon all sighting, the dolphins circled an area and reportedly dove together. At the surface the dolphins did occasionally lift their heads to take a peek at our guests but soon got back to business afterwards. Well, we can always feel flattered by this show of attention besides the dolphins other priorities and were grateful for these sightings on this very hot day.

By Paula Thake

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:30 Bottlenose dolphins

13:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Bottlenose dolphins

Stenella 

09:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins (snorkelling)

14:00 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Bottlenose dolphins

17:00 Bottlenose dolphins