20.08.2021 – Record-breaker

Both our boats could enjoy wonderful sightings with several groups of Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) today, a species that fills the waters around the island during the summer months. In the last days, we’ve seen these dolphins gorging on Snipefish (Macroramphosus scolopax), tiny petrified-looking fish that flee from their predators in oval-shaped schools. Short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) also arrive here in large groups at this time of the year, just in time for “Potas” or squid season. These medium-sized deep sea squid and the snipe fish both feed a variety of ocean predators that visit Madeira but one cetacean visitor may be interested in prey that lives in deeper waters.

On our second trip aboard the Stenella, our team had a sighting with two Cuvier’s beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris), large beaked whales that feed in deep waters far off the coast of Madeira. Currently Cuvier’s hold the record of worlds deepest and longest diving mammals, with a dive documented as deep as 3050m and another lasting 222 minutes! This is incredible considering the fact that they breathe air and the unimaginable pressure they’re exposed to in the dark ocean. They feed on several species of squid and deep-sea fish and very little is known about their social lives.

It was humbling to meet such a mysterious ocean dweller among all the fun encounters with the spotted dolphins, it truly never gets boring out on the Atlantic.

By Paula Thake

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:00 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Short-finned pilot whales

13:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins

Stenella

09:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins (Snorkeling)

13:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Cuvier’s beaked whales

16:00 Atlantic spotted dolphins