18.09.2019 – The tales tails tell

Madeira is a place that gets many visitors, not only do we get people from all over the world that fly in to see our little island paradise, we also get cetaceans: whales and dolphins that travel here to enjoy what Madeira has to offer. Just like with humans, there are also the locals, who know all too well what this island has to offer and will not stray too far from it for long.

The Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) we saw today can be either oceanic travelling groups or residents, since within the species different types of populations occur. Regardless, they are always an incredible sight, since this large yet graceful dolphin species never fails to captivate our guests when they ride along our bow.

Another group that enjoys the warm waters around madeira are the Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus). The females of this group are incredibly social animals, travelling together as they dive deep down, trading the sunny blue waves for a hunt in the dark, chasing squid. And when they do so, the last thing we see of them is their fluke, the massive tail fin that gets lifted out of the water. This moment often leaves us with beautiful pictures, and interesting ones as well.

The fluke tells a story, every fluke is unique, the ridges, knicks and patterns tell us who the whale is, its’s like a fingerprint. When a sperm whale is born, it is born with the fluke first. It is a highly social event, and the other females in the group assist by pulling on the little baby out. This pulling is what leaves the little marks, amongst other events in the whale’s life. This means, that if you were to come back with you children many years from now and take another picture of a diving sperm whale, you might just recognize the same whale by his fluke that you saw today.

By Scott Dorssers

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

13:30 Sperm whale, Bottlenose dolphin

Stenella

15:30 Sperm whale, Bottlenose dolphin