15.11.2022 – Holy Sh!t ;)

A Zen saying: “One should sit in nature for 20 minutes a day. But if you’re stressed, sit for an hour.” For those who need a little rest, today’s morning tour was a perfect reminder to rest during the day. The Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), Short-finned Pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) and the two Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) that we encountered were deeply relaxed. And why not take a conscious break during the day? Take a deep breath and just let everyday life go on without you for a while. I think it is a good quality to be able to take this brief rest, to recharge batteries, and then get back to everyday life.

The tour in the afternoon made for this unusual blog title. Our first stop was a Tropical whale (Balaenoptera edeni) that was navigating not far from the coast. After it first appeared near us, we discovered a huge brown patch on the sea surface behind the animal. At first, our guests were probably very surprised why their guide was so euphoric about it. But it was quickly explained that there was reason to be enthusiastic about it. Foremost, these feces of this whale means that he had eaten. Furthermore, this excretion is very valuable because it contains plenty of nutrients that benefit the zooplankton and thus the marine food chain. It also provides the phytoplankton with valuable nutrients. Since approximately 70% of the oxygen produced on our beautiful planet is made up of phytoplankton in the oceans, such an excretion is a real cause for celebration. Apart from the fact that these wonderful water creatures have to be protected anyway, it also has an effect that is essential for our survival. Holy shit!

On the way to the Sperm whales, we were found by the Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis), but our journey continued to the large toothed whales, where a female is in charge. The same principle also applies to the Pilot whales that we saw afterwards. On the way back to the port, the nimble Spotted dolphins found us again.

What an incredible day. Thank you nature, thank you marine mammals, thank you Drumond (spotter), thank you Daniel, thank you guests.

By Fatima Kutzschbach

Sichtungen des Tages

Stenella

10:00 Sperm whales, Pilot whales, Bottlenose dolphins

15:00 Tropical whale, Atlantic spotted dolphins, Sperm whales, Pilot whales