Family sticks together, for the Short finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) we saw this morning, this definitely holds true. Pilot whale families are extremely loyal, to a fault. Whale rescue operations, helping stranded animals often have difficulty bringing a pod of Pilot whales back to sea as they won’t leave their distressed kin alone. This takes on such extreme forms that an individual may have to be saved several times after it re-beaches itself trying to get to the rest of the family. And rescuers are sometimes forced to take a few young individuals away further into deeper waters to lure the group away from the beach.
The large pod we saw today seemed to have spread out, so as we set off after a beautiful sighting of these animals, we kept running into more and more pilots from the same group. Even as they are further away from each other, their sonic signals help them stay in touch, coordinating their journey.
It was also an exceptionally active turtle day, so much so that our second trip on Ribeira Brava almost turned into a turtle safari, with seven loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) sightings! These turtles are born in very large families (60-90 eggs), but then they make their way on their own from birth. Yet not completely lonely, a mutualistic relationship often forms between sea turtles and small fish that follow them around, they eat algae of the shell, keeping the turtle clean whilst scoring an easy snack. One of our loggerheads today had a different visitor however. A Tern (Sterna) decided to take a little break and sat down on top of the turtle, perhaps to have a look for any of the little fish hiding under the shell, as Terns like to plunge into the water for small fish, or perhaps just to take it easy for a moment.
There was one more cetacean species active in the waters surrounding Calheta today, Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) are definitely amongst our favourite sightings due to their fondness of boats and playfulness in our waves. They were not always easy to find today, but hunger is the best sauce. And it was a great reward for our search efforts to see them gliding in the blue waters of Madeira today!
By Scott Dorssers
Sightings of the day
Ribeira Brava
10:00 Short finned pilot whale, Atlantic spotted dolphin
15:00 Atlantic spotted dolphin
Stenella
18:00 Atlantic spotted dolphin