26.08.2021 – Ambergris – About squid and Sperm whales

Published by Fatima Kutzschbach on September 2, 2021

On our morning tour went far, very far, but our blue office was a kind of desert. Far and wide no dolphins, no whales. However, we found a squid floating on the surface of the sea. A marine mammal had not completely eaten it after a successful hunt. This was our chance to take a closer look at it. The beak of this squid is particularly interesting. When a whale devours these squids, it of course also swallows the hard beak, which, however, is not digestible. These indigestible parts of the horned jaw and beaks migrate through the intestinal tract of the Sperm whale, settle there and over a long period of time a gray, waxy substance, the so-called ambergris, develops from it. It used to be used as a base for perfume, which has now been replaced by synthetic ones. Amber is now only used in expensive perfumes. A huge squid is currently emerging on our harbor wall and if you compare the photos of our real one and the one that is in process to be painted, you will see that they look alike.

Then on the midday tour we went far, very far to the west. We even went past Ponta do Pargo so we could take a look at the north coast of Madeira. But our sighting with a Tropical whale (Balaenoptera edeni) was really worth it. This baleen whale always appeared with some form of announcement, bubble output. For a tropical whale, it was a sturdy exemplar.

There was a lot to see in the afternoon. Striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) roamed the blue, Short-beaked Common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) first enjoyed themselves close to the Ribeira Brava, and then came to the Stenella. A particularly acrobatic Common dolphin gave a great show of breaching s. And at the end of the day in our blue office we were able to admire the squid consumer in person. There were Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), their favorite food is squid.