12.06.2018 – United

We had two beautiful tours on our traditional boat today with stunning sightings of several different toothed whales and one baleen whale species. Our baleen whale sighting involved a Tropical whale (Balaenoptera edeni) and her calf, summer transients that were the final gift of the day from our spotter. Both tours included encounters with Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) and Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), with the afternoon tour including an additional sighting with a large group of Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis).

One of the main differences between baleen whales (Mysteceti) and toothed whales (Odontoceti) is the degree of socialising. Odontocetes spend a large amount of time travelling and interacting in smaller or larger communities, making them more resilient as a unit. Our eventful afternoon tour was a manifestation of this; spotted dolphins never fail to entertain but the degree of body contact and interactions within todays group was spectacular to watch. The herd mainly consisted of adult dolphins swimming in a very compact manner and displaying a lot of mating behaviour, with a few individuals also exhibiting aggressive behaviour towards a wounded animal. In contrast to the busy sighting with our summer dolphins, the Bottlenose encounter in the afternoon only involved one solitary animal, an unusual circumstance that can occasionally be expected from resident animals.

Between both tours we had an ornithologist, Marie Claire Gatt, and her colleague Francesco present their work before accompanying us on a magnificent afternoon trip. Marie does research on the Cory’s Shearwater (Calonectris borealis) colonies on the Selvagem islands, the only place in the world where these marine birds return to land during the day as opposed to only returning at night. The Corys are important indicators of animal activity for spotter, skipper and guide and aid us immensely in locating marine mammals. While Maries research promotes the conservation of these endangered marine birds, todays exchange and dialogue was essential for everyone involved and was, additionally, a rewarding experience for our guests.

A combination of awareness and research is crucial for the protection of marine environments and their inhabitants but this input only gains leverage if we all work together.

Ribeira Brava

10:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Sperm whales