21.08.2021 – Stop and go

In the morning, clouds provided natural sun protection while we made our way to the striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba). The group was spread out over a large area and behaved cautiously, as we know it from them. Only one animal got into our bow wave three times. On our way back, we met a tiny Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta).

The motto of the following two tours was “Stop and go”. On the midday tour, there were long waiting times after the encounter with the Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis), but then the events rolled over. A Tropical whale (Balaenoptera edeni) came straight up to the Stenella, dived beneath her, and exhaled near the boat. A whale within your grasp. The group of Short-finned Pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) was also nice to see by all guests.

During the afternoon tour we found three different species of marine mammals, Short-finned Pilot whales, Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and Blainville’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris), but they were difficult to observe. There were waiting times on this trip as well. Later we had a very interesting observation of Pilot whales. Even they behaved in stop and go mode. Sometimes they shot through the sea, energetically like Pseudo Orcas, only to stop the next moment.

By Fatima Kutzschbach

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:00 Striped dolphins, Loggerhead turtle

17:00 Pilot whales, Bottlenose dolphins

Stenella

09:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins

13:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Tropical whale, Pilot whales

16:00 Pilot whales, Bottlenose dolphins, Blainville’s beaked whales