14.03.2024 – At our front door

What a joy it was to be welcomed by some warm weather out on the ocean today, it almost felt like a summer day! To top it all off, we had the pleasure of welcoming some lovely guests on board and had many of our sightings practically at our front door. We barely drove out of the marina this morning before encountering a lone Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) that was swimming in the vicinity of a group of Short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis). The pod of common dolphins contained several little calves which probably explained their proximity to the shore. Usually these seasonal visitors are encountered further offshore hunting prey at this time of the year but waters near the shore are the safest for the little calves.

Our team then moved on to a spectacular sighting of Blainville’s baked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) which contained two particularly curious females that approached our boats, before being followed by the rest of their pod. It was fantastic to experience these deep divers so up close and personal and we were able to enjoy the company of the exact same group during our afternoon tours later on in the day. The yellow tinted bodies of the beaked whales gave off a beautiful golden glow in the midday sun, which added some extra romance to their charismatic behaviour.

We ended our midday tour aboard the Ribeira Brava with another pod of common dolphins, with a few curious adults during the waves of our bow. Our guests were curious to hear all about these gorgeous dolphins and enjoyed spotting them as they moved in a milling behaviour around our colourful traditional boat.  Our Stenella shared the same sightings and ended the day with another lovely pod of common dolphins.

By Paula Thake

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:30 Blainville’s beaked whales, Bottlenose dolphin, Short-beaked common dolphins

13:30 Blainville’s beaked whales, Short-beaked common dolphins

Stenella

09:30 Blainville’s beaked whales, Bottlenose dolphin, Short-beaked common dolphins

13:30 Blainville’s beaked whales, Short-beaked common dolphins

16:00 Short-beaked common dolphins