15.08.2026 – Hide and seek in the waves

This Saturday, the wind picked up in the afternoon, and we got some choppy ocean. Wind and swell make it more difficult to spot cetaceans as white caps are appearing. Nevertheless, we managed to have great sightings and four different species!

The Bryde’s whale (Balaenoptera edeni) was here shortly and disappeared into the waves. But sometimes they can surprise us with close surface swims. They are present all year round but more frequently seen in summer. As they occur in tropical/sub-tropical latitudes, they won’t migrate large distances like other baleen whales species: fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Bryde’s whales are always a marvellous sight; we can feel the strength of these large animals (females can reach 16m long)!

The common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) that we saw today were cheeky and in rather small groups. Unlike winter months, where they aggregate in large pods. This is the other way around for spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis). At the moment, sightings are often showing large pods of 30-40 individual and sometimes more! With babies..!

By Juliette Colançon

Sightings of the day

Ribeira brava

09:00 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Bottlenose dolphins

13:00 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Bryde’s whale, Short-beaked common dolphins

Steno

09:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Bottlenose dolphins

13:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Bryde’s whale, Short-beaked common dolphins

16:30 Short-beaked common dolphins