17.07.2017 – Who is annoyed about spots, has never gone with us!

The morning started with a large school of Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) who peacefully socialized with each other in different groups. Right from the beginning we were lucky enough to have the kindergarten group of dolphins in our area. The little calves, as always, cling to Mother’s side to find shelter from enemies and use the mother’s pull to keep up without wasting much energy. Interestingly enough, our morning guests were able to follow this phenomenon a bit later. On the way to the harbor we met a few kayaks. The young man (see photo) used exactly the same effect as the small dolphin calves in their mothers. He positioned himself perfectly in the wake of the Ribeira Brava and had just to keep his balance. The drag of the boat pulled him along and he enjoyed this ride for ten minutes … we took him to the harbor. It was almost as if our fishing boat would have had offspring on its “old” days. For our guests an excellent example of the power of the suction, the little dolphins use.

Otherwise, there is probably only one other thing to say about our two Ribeira Brava tours: who is annoyed about spots, has never gone with us! For anyone who has ever experienced Atlantic Spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) simply has to love them. Today the sea was bluer than ever and smooth as glass. If you look at the photos, it might almost seem like the animals are losing themselves in the blue of the sky. Our Spotted dolphins are simply the best and are true wizards! In which way? Well, magically, they can always bring a smile to the faces of our guests. Pure bliss!

In the afternoon Filipe discovered another Sunfish (Mola mola), which unfortunately dived too fast to be admired by all. In German the Sunfish is called Moonfish and the question came up, why he is called like that? Well, if you know the old children’s proposition: the moon is round, the moon is round, it has a nose, an eye and a mouth, then you can imagine what that animal looks like. It belongs to the order of the Tetraodontiformes and is, with its over three meters and one ton of weight, the largest existing bone fish. It lives offshore, dives to 400m and the largest Mola molas can release up to 300 million eggs! An animal of superlatives!

By Fatima Kutzschbach

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic Spotted dolphins, Loggerhead turtle

13:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic Spotted dolphins, Loggerhead turtle, Sunfish

Stenella

09:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic Spotted dolphins

12:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic Spotted dolphins, Striped dolphins, Loggerhead turtle

15:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic Spotted dolphins, Common dolphins, Striped dolphins, Loggerhead turtle