15.08.2021- Polar opposites

Characteristic behaviours vary across all the different species of cetaceans in the world. Even here in Madeira, we find the same diversity in typical behaviour as we do in marine life surrounding the island.

Our day started off with some of the more bashful representatives of the toothed whales. Our spotter had located a tiny group of Blainville’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) occasionally surfacing a few miles outside Calheta. These deep diving cetaceans spend most of their time in the dark ocean, navigating through their acute bio sonar like living submarines. The little time they linger at the surface is used for breathing. As we approached the beaked whales they immediately dove and didn’t surface in the sightings area again. Sometimes Blainville’s beaked whales do get curious and approach our boat, but usually they disappear very quickly so this behaviour was definitely representative of the shy beaked whale family.

The characteristic behaviour of the Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis), the species we encountered in the afternoon, is the polar opposite of that of the Blainville’s beaked whales. These dolphins often immediately approach our boats when we enter the sightings area and are hands down one of themes curious species in the Atlantic Ocean. They are, in fact, so curious that they have become one of the most important species of dolphin to study in the wild and have helped scientists decipher different types of social behaviour as well as vocalisations.

What an exciting day and how lucky we are to witness such diversity!

By Paula Thake

Sightings of the day

10:00 Blainville’s beaked whales

15:00 Atlantic spotted dolphins