All tours today were fortunate enough to see Sperm Whales (Physeter macrocephalus), but for me, that wasn’t the most impressive thing we saw today. That goes to the Bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus) we saw at 13:30. With winds and waves picking up, these dolphins were very different from the calm ones we saw at 09:30. Despite large foaming white horses, we saw them clearly as they were leaping meters out of the water! As these animals were landing beaks first, we could determine they were performing these leaps to feed. This lines up nicely with recent research, which suggests that dolphins increase their foraging behaviour before or during large storms! I always love seeing things out on the ocean that line up with current research!
By Peter Worth
Sightings of the Day
Stenella
09:30 Sperm Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins
13:30 Sperm Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins
Ribeira Brava
09:30 Sperm Whales