15.05.2026 – Together
May 22, 2026
With only one trip per boat today, we did see a lot indeed! First off, we encountered Bottlenose Dolphins. This lot seems to have been hanging around the same spot for the last two days, accompanied again by many seabirds, just off the coast between Calheta and Jardim do Mar. A few minutes later, we already encountered a very interactive group of Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis), and shortly after that, a surprise encounter with Short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis). We were already on our way out to see four Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus). Then, on our way back to shore, we encountered the fifth species of the day – this was different for both boats. While Steno saw Striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) and another group of common dolphins, Stenella removed a piece of ghost net dangerously close to a Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) on their way back.
Every year, approximately hundreds of thousands of turtles get entangled in fishing gear and die. The nets either strangle them to death or prevent them from feeding. Every year, an estimated 640,000 tons of abandoned fishing gear enter the ocean. Most of it comes from industrial-scale fishing fleets operating outside the 200-mile zone. Ghost nets are not the only threat posed by these often illegal or poorly regulated fisheries to marine life. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of dolphins and other cetaceans also die as bycatch every year after becoming trapped in fishing gear. Much of the fish these fleets catch is processed into feed for farmed fish such as salmon, livestock, and pet food. Due to industrial overfishing, it has been estimated that populations of large predatory fish worldwide have declined by up to 90% over the past 70 years.
By Eva Köhle
Sightings of the day
Steno
09:30 Sperm Whale, Bottlenose Dolphin, Atlantic Spotted Dolphin, Short-beaked Common Dolphin, Loggerhead Turtle
Stenella
09:30 Sperm Whale, Bottlenose Dolphin, Atlantic Spotted Dolphin, Short-beaked Common Dolphin, Striped Dolphin
