20.09.17- Sunset sensation

I had the pleasure of embarking on the evening tour today on our zodiac and we had a truly fantastic time out at sea. We were out of the marina for barely five minutes before encountering a Sei whale, that kept a fair distance to our boat but stayed at the surface long enough for our guests to admire it. After some time, we headed east searching for a small group of Common Dolphins that had been observed feeding some two nautical miles off Ribeira Brava by our spotter. During our search we were pleasantly surprised by a group of Blainville’s beaked Whales that swam directly towards the Stenella. Beaked whales generally exhibit cautious and evasive behavior towards boats, although the Blainville is known to be the exception in many cases. Nonetheless, this notably confident behavior is still rather unusual but granted us the wonderful opportunity to observe these animals up close and personal. The group was lead by larger females, while two large bulls kept an eye on their harem at the rear. The animals were so near that the rake marks caused by feuds amongst bulls were visible near the dorsal fin. We sped off from this remarkable sighting to encounter a calm and inquisitive group of Common Dolphins, before speeding off to Calheta harbour while enjoying one of the many arresting sunsets Madeira has to offer.

by Paula Thake

Sightings

Ribeira Brava

13:30 Common dolphins

Stenella

09:00 No sighting

18:00 Common dolphins, Sei Whale, Blainville’s beaked whales