17.08.2025 – Life’s journey

Sperm whales (Physter macrocephalus) and Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) were the cetacean species we could appreciate today, but in this blog I want to tell you something more about one of our other animals. I want to tell you about the life’s journey of the Loggerhead sea turtle ( Caretta caretta) which we could appreciate today.

They are born on one beach. Most nesting sites in the North Atlantic are on the west coast on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, although there are also some nesting sites on the Cape Verde islands in the eastern Atlantic. After surviving the struggle of the hatching, the baby turtles drift over many years through the open Atlantic following the main currents and that is how they arrive here at Madeira. In our waters they feed for a while, before they leave again to travel further on.

When they are then old enough they return back to the area where they were born. There they mate and the female then return back on land to lay the eggs and the circle starts again.

 You see that over their long life they travel large distances and survive the struggles they have in the ocean.

By Horst Schulte

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:00 Sperm whale, Loggerhead sea turtle

13:00 Bottlenose dolphin, Loggerhead sea turtle

Stenella

09:30 Sperm whale

13:30 Sperm whale, Bottlenose dolphins

16:30 Bottlenose dolphins