Today was full with excitement and and extra special visitors. Starting with active Striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) and just one but two different species of beaked whales: the Cuviers Beaked Whale (Ziphius cavirostris) and Blainville Beaked Whales (Mesoplodon densirostris). Beaked whales are from all cetaceans on of the most reserved and shy in their encounters. This goes to the point that until about the last decade almost all known information about those animals came from stranded individuals. Unfortunately they very difficult to make research with. The cuviers beaked whale is believed to be the deepest diver in the world, breaking the record od diving up to depths of 3000m. The Blainville Beaked Whale, easily to be recognized by the shape of their Rostrum only reached about half the depth.
In the two following tours we were lucky enough to encounter the chunky and beautiful Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and our almost summer-resident Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) . To round it off we met a small Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) logging at the water surface and sticking her head out.
von Paulina Kalita
Sightings of the day
Stenella
09:30 Striped Dolphin, Blainville Beaked Whale, Cuviers Beaked Whale
14:00 Bottlenose Dolphin, Atlantic Spotted dolphin
17:00 Bottlenose Dolphin, Loggerhead Turtle
Ribeira Brava
10:00 Striped Dolphin, Blainville Beaked Whale
15:00 Bottlenose dolphin