23.08.2018 – Magic hour

Whale-watching trips in the evening during the summer months belong to my favorite tours. Apart from the fact that they are a relaxing contrast to the scorching midday heat during our afternoon trips, the setting sun creates a beautiful golden light and the animals often display very interesting behavior at that particular time of the day. After witnessing grooming Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) on one of the evening trips this week, I was anticipating anything today.

Our trip began with a spectacular encounter with Striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba). In contrast to their close relatives, the Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) a species that we frequently encounter in the water during snorkeling trips, Striped dolphins tend to avoid our boats and are very difficult to approach. Today, however, there was a curious sub-group amongst the large school of 60 dolphins and these individuals, to our astonishment, began to bow-ride and leap alongside our zodiac. While this behavior has been observed before during our trips, I never witnessed it happening for such a long time and was thrilled to finally admire these beautiful dolphins at close range.

Our trip continued with a sightings involving Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and a small peaceful herd of Short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus). At some point during the sighting, we suddenly saw a lightly coloured fan-shaped dorsal fin cutting through the ocean surface. The dolphins approached the mysterious animal, poking it with their beaks resulting in it speeding off past our boat. As it fled past our zodiac, we realised that the animal may have been a White Marlin (Kajikia albida), a fast-swimming billfish that likes to hunt flying-fish,Mahi mahior schooling fish at the surface and enjoys warm water temperatures well over 22°C. White marlin are often mixed up with the Roundscale-spearfish (Tetrapturus georgii), a similar looking species that can be identified with close examination of the animals scales and the position of the anal opening on their ventral  side. Essentially it could have been one of these species but such determinations aren’t simple from the boat.

I truly enjoy such encounters with large predatory fish of the Atlantic; they are a reminder of how vast the ocean is and what a diversity of beautiful creatures thrive in the waters around Madeira. I was happy to enjoy this moment and all the others with our lovely guests on board our Stenella at this remarkable time of the day. They don’t call it magic hour for nothing!

Evenings are magical but this shouldn’t dull the wonderful encounters our guides and guests enjoyed in the morning and afternoon today. In the morning our crew and guests enjoyed an encounter with Bottlenose dolphins, before sliding into the cool Atlantic ocean to snorkel with an interactive group of spotted dolphins. The guests aboard the afternoon trips enjoyed sightings with Blainville’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris), a basking Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) and Striped dolphins.

By Paula Thake

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

13:30 Blainville’s beaked whales, Loggerhead turtle

Stenella

09:00 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Bottlenose dolphins

15:30 Striped dolphins

18:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Short-finned pilot whales, Striped dolphins