16.10.2018 – Friends of the ocean

Both our boats ventured out onto the deep-blue Atlantic today. The Stenella had a tour in the morning and headed to the far east of the island near Funchal to see Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) and Striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba). I joined our wonderful captain Sr. Luis on the Ribeira Brava today where we searched far and wide only to return to the marina with no sighting.

These are the challenges we face in our line of work and the reason why we cannot make guarantees in nature’s name. Favorable weather conditions and the presence of animals are essential to have a successful trip and our team does its best every time to work with what we have.

Amongst our many lovely guests on board our trips these last two days we also enjoyed the company of Marilyn Beetex and her partner. We spoke abit on board and one thing’s for sure: Marilyn is an absolute power-woman. Near her career as a pilot instructor, she is also a pasionate photographer that has travelled far and wide to take pictures of cetaceans in their natural habitat. Her portfolio boasts a wide variety of pictures from the massive Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) in the Azores, to the gentle Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and Gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus)in Mexico up to the intelligent Amazon River Dolphins (Inia geoffrensis). Of course these pictures are accompanied by several exciting stories including one where a skipper bravely jumped into the water to free a Humpback whale whose fluke was wrapped up in a thick rope. It was great to have her on board and our conversation was so interesting that I was eager to check out her work. If you’re curious here’s a link to her website:

http://ames-oceanes.org/

Marilyn is one of many fans of cetaceans and the oceans, who are facinated and humbled by their beauty. The ocean is a force of nature, a familiar yet alien world that shapes our coastlines and our lives. It would be both extremely unwise and arrogant of us to regard the ocean as our property or an entity we can control. It surely isn’t and, in order to work with what the ocean generously offers us, we have to continuously make an effort to understand it.

By Paula Thake

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

14:30 No sighting

Stenella

10:00 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Striped dolphins