11.03.2019 – Hotspots
March 19, 2019
13.03.2019 – Pioneers
March 21, 2019
To me the Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), with their fearless, altruistic nature, are the true bosses amongst all the cetaceans visiting Madeira. You never know what to expect during a sighting with these highly intelligent creatures.
We met a group of Bottlenose dolphins next to a herd of Short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) during our morning trip on board our zodiac today. The Bottllenose dolphins displayed their usual dynamic behaviour, with some individuals occasionally approaching the Stenella and riding the waves at our bow before speeding off to join the rest of the herd.
As the animals were racing around us, a few of them leapt high above the surface and took a glance at our guests. Dolphins leap for several different reasons; one of them is to inspect their surroundings at the surface. Bottlenose dolphins are extremely agile and can jump up to 5m high despite the animals being able to reach lengths of 4m and a maximum weight of 650 kg! Nothing short of impressive! Before leaping the animals always disappeared for a while before suddenly launching themselves out of the water. This obviously made photographing the event a bit more challenging for me but it had our guests exclaiming with joy each and every time, so I’m definitely not complaining. A sighting with these charismatic animals is simply never boring.
By Paula Thake
Sightings of the day
Stenella
10:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Short-finned pilot whales
