11.02.2026 – A cute snout and cool whales
February 17, 2026
The overcast skies over Calheta and the Southwestern waters sure didn’t dim the mood at sea today! A 3m swell creased the grey Atlantic Ocean but soon the contrast of a few dorsal fins broke the surface and we all knew it was going to be a good day. Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), their grey skin almost without contrast to the grey waters, were travelling east as a unit. A few of the pods individuals even took the time to engage in a brief bow-ride and soon our captain veered east to go and see some Short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus).
Pilot whales share their distribution pattern with the Bottlenose dolphin but are completely different when it comes to their social dynamics. While Bottlenose carefully select their peers, often changing. Pods severalties in the course of their lives, female pilot whales. Remain loyal to their birth pod their entire lives. Watching these two species glide alongside one another during the second sighting proved again how, despite their differences, they succeed to peacefully coexist.
By Paula Thake
Sightings of the day
Ribeira Brava
09:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Short-finned pilot whales
Stenella
09:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Short-finned pilot whales
