17.01.2025 – Close to mum’s side

Adapted to the cold wind, we encountered our winter dolphins today. Short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) prefer colder waters. For us, winter means the chance to observe these unusually beautiful animals. Today we only had two animals, but we were able to watch them make their typical leaps while hunting and had them close to the boat a few times.

At midday, we headed out to make a U-turn and head back towards the coast. A group of Blainville’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) were shy at first, but quickly became very familiar. And in the middle of these small whales was a very small calf. The little one kept close to mum’s side. That’s good!

By Fatima Kutzschbach

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:30 Common dolphins

13:30 Blainville’s beaked whales