15.09.2026 – Columbus crabs
September 23, 2026
Our spotters have had to deal with a lot of Sahara sand mist clouding their view on the ocean and this did not make things easy for our crew today. Nonetheless, we managed lovely sightings with Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) during the morning and late afternoon tour. In the late afternoon tour, when the dust usually settles, it actually got worse and the animals moved further offshore – ensuing long searches with both vessels.
Sadly, our Ribeira Brava returned from the midday tour with no sighting but Steno found Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and Short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) in the windy waters far off the coast from Funchal. They were way out of the search range for our traditional boat but our clients appreciated the effort and some even enjoyed playing captain at the helm.
Despite its effect on our view on the ocean, the Sahara sand brings a lot of important nutrients to our oceans, saturating plankton with phosphate, iron and nitrogen and cooling the oceans surface. This definitely makes us forgive the dust for not making our searches at sea easy today!
By Paula Thake
Sightings of the day
Ribeira Brava
09:00 Atlantic spotted dolphins
13:00 No sightings
Steno
09:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins
13:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Short-finned pilot whales
16:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins
