15.09.2024 – Eyes wide shut

It is a very, very special moment when dolphins or whales decide to be curious towards vessels. Sometimes they might swim on the bow, sometimes even turn around in the meantime, observing us. I hope you realise how incredibly lucky you are if you get to look a dolphin or a whale into its eye. Sometimes, the animals might not be in the mood, and rather keep some distance. We observe their behaviour out on sea all the time and will adapt to the animals reaction. If they avoid us, we will keep more distance and not stay as long as if they were curious. The animal’s reaction depends on many factors – every species has it’s typical behaviour, but their activity and group composition might influence – it seems obvious that mothers prefer to keep their calves with some distance to our boats (although the little ones often have a different opinion and are particularly curious). I even believe that the sea state has some influence on our whales and dolphins. They often get particularly interested when the sea is calm, and stay a little further away once it is rough. Often, the animals seem to just not mind us too much. This is fabulous, as we can observe them in their natural behaviour. Just as today, we managed to observe Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), Blainville’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) and a Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) up close. If you takea look at our pictures of the day, you notice that they often lifted up their heads while their eyes were closed. Obviously, cetacean eyes are better adapted to the ocean environment than to air. Often, they will not need their sight too much and communicate and locate prey by soundwaves instead. I wonder if it is uncomfortable for them to keep their eyes open when being outside the ocean? Or did they sleep while we watched them? In fact, it has been shown that dolphins sleep with one eye closed while the other one is open!

By Sarah Kather

 Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:30 Bottlenose dolphins

13:30 Bottlenose dolphins

Stenella

09:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Sperm whale

14:00  Bottlenose dolphins

17:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Blainville’s beaked whales