16.06.2022 – A good day

There are days where it can be challenging to find marine life out on the Atlantic especially when it’s windy out there. The conditions, however, did not stop our spotter from finding some amazing things for us at sea. The day began with our three free divers who had all fingers and toes crossed to encounter some larger and rarer marine mammals at sea during their stay here in Madeira. Today, the Atlantic delivered both.

Our spotter managed to spot a breaching Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) amongst the white caps at sea. It was a big animal…and she wasn’t alone. Female sperm whales prefer to remain in the tropical subtropical latitudes of our oceans and tend to remain with their birth pod. The female was soon reunited with her conspecifics at the surface and the animals began to socialise, shedding some skin as they did so. Our freedivers got a couple of wonderful shots of the pod and were suddenly surprised by a passing group of Short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), gorgeous cetaceans that are more abundant in the colder season.

Just when our team thought that things couldn’t get any better, our spotter rang with information on two Mediterranean monk seals (Monachus monachus) near the aquaculture in Calheta. The animals were curious and approached their underwater admirers, allowing the divers to get some incredible shots for identification. The species belongs to one of the most endangered seal species on our planet, so any contribution that helps keep track of the little colony here in Madeira is highly appreciated.

The monk seal encounter wrapped up a beautiful morning for our team and left us motivated to give it another go in the afternoon. We dressed our excited guests up in waterproof clothing and speed onto the windy Atlantic to encounter Sperm whales once again. This time the animals only came to the surface to breathe and rest before lifting their enormous flukes to plunge into the abyss for another foraging dive.

So it goes without saying that today was a good day and we are ready for more!

By Paula Thake

Sightings of the day

Stenella

09:00 Mediterranean monk seal, Short-beaked common dolphins, Sperm whales

15:00 Sperm whales