25.07.2024 – Cabinet of curiosities

I am always curious about our guests’ previous experience with whales and dolphins – Is it the first time ever they are experiencing cetaceans in the wild? Have they seen them already elsewhere, and where? Some of our guests have already travelled a lot, eventually seen Humpback whales in Australia for example, Orcas in Alaska, Gray whales in Mexico – these marvellous experiences which you might have had with those beauties somewhere else will not really prepare you for what awaits you in Madeira’s waters. I like to describe our ocean as a cabinet of curiosities – a large collection of species, some of which are extremely hard to observe anywhere else in the world. Every day, every trip brings new surprises and other species for us to marvel at. I have myself spend the last 9 years of my life on the ocean, most of the time watching whales and dolphins on a daily basis. And I still get surprised. In only two and a half months which I have spent now in Madeira, the incredible encounters on the ocean were plentiful, and today’s tours included some of these unforgettable moments.

The morning tours started with perfectly calm waters but quite foggy conditions, complicating our spotters search for animals. We still managed to find a small group of curious Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) and even a Loggerhead Sea turtle (Caretta caretta) warming up on the water surface. The biggest surprise awaited us though just a few moments before returning to the harbour of Calheta. A Mediterranean Monk Seal (Monachus monachus) surfaced and even swam curiously around the stern of the ship. Enough to get some images of this rare animal – this species is in fact the most endangered seal species on our planet, and around Madeira scientists only estimate about 35 of the worldwide 600 individuals! After consulting the experts, we were informed that this particular individual seems to be the oldest known male of the little subpopulation living here. He must have learned to grab fish from the nearby fish farm – what a lucky day for us to get a close look at him! The afternoon continued with encounters of Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and a tiny Sea turtle right beside our boats and incredible Flying fish (Cheilopogon melanurus) dashing out of the blue. Our last tour got to encounter the specialists of the deep divers – a large male Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) and, after quite some time of patiently waiting, an outstanding group of six Blainville beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris), swimming calmly only a few meters from our boats. Even being able to observe these extremely rare (and supposedly evasive) deep divers swimming calmly beside us, hearing them breathing, certainly put a smile on everyone’s face. The world’s most endangered seal species, flying fish and masters of deep dives – Madeira’s cabinet of curiosities at its best!

By Sarah Kather

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Loggerhead Sea turtle, Mediterranean Monk seal

13:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Loggerhead Sea turtle, Flying fish

17:00 Sperm whale, Blainville’s beaked whales

Stenella

09:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Loggerhead Sea turtle

14:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Loggerhead Sea turtle, Flying fish

17:00 Sperm whale, Atlantic spotted dolphins, Blainville’s beaked whales