22.03.2023 – Balance

It was a lovely day out on the ocean today, filled with incredible moments and conversations about stark realities. We had sightings of small dolphin species throughout the day, with various groups of Short-beaked common dolphins (Delphins delphis) and Striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) crossing through the Southwestern waters. We can’t help but have a bittersweet feeling when encountering these two particular species. The sweet part comes from the obvious joy of seeing dolphins, the bitter part from the fact that many individuals from both species often end up as bycatch in the enormous nets of supertrawlers in the North Atlantic. This makes us grateful for every single sighting and it’s reassuring to have so many pods visiting the islands waters.

While the common and striped dolphins are vulnerable to the overexploitation of fish stocks in parts of the Atlantic, the Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) resort to alternative, opportunistic ways that can be dangerous for the animals. The species are known to engage in depredation; that is stealing catch from fishing lines, an interaction that is most frequently observed with Espada fishing boats here in Madeira. As the fishermen reel in the lines after 18 hours in the deep, the dolphins approach the vessel, nibbling on the catch. Apart from the danger of the dolphins entangling themselves in the lines, the fishermen lose their catch and release their long-lines into the deep once again. 

Dolphins, humans…we all require a healthy ocean. We hope that our guests understand how necessary this is after our trips so we can all do our part in achieving a balance that meets our needs and the needs of marine life.

By Paula Thake

Sightings of the day

Stenella 

09:30 Short-beaked common dolphins, Striped dolphins

13:30 Short-beaked common dolphins, Striped dolphins

16:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Short-beaked common dolphins