27.03.2025 – Good to be back

I was used to seeing dolphins or whales almost every single day, so I never really understood what it would mean not seeing them for such a long time! In the last year, I was on leave and dedicated my time to another life project, motherhood. My new wonderful little “project” kept me very busy, leaving little time to actually miss the ocean but, being out there again today, reminded me of how I missed those adventures and how much I enjoyed sharing them with our guests.

The day started with one of my personal favourites, who happen to be frequent visitors here in Madeira. Many of the Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the waters of Madeira form part of a population inhabiting a home range that stretches from our archipelago to the Canaries. The social dynamics of that population is based on a fission-fusion society principle, with new individuals constantly being recruited into groups and others leaving temporarily. It’s an ever changing constellation. We saw a small pod socialising this morning and a much larger pod of around 20-30 animals travelling east at the 13:30 tour.

The morning tour also included sightings of species where the maternal instinct is shared amongst family members when it comes to the little ones. Female Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) and Short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) move in stable family groups that invest ample time in caring for their young and teaching them the family “culture”. While we didn’t get to see much social behaviour during those sightings, the guests were nonetheless moved by the energy these animals invest in their young. Later in the afternoon, our guests enjoyed a sighting of Striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba), an evasive but incredibly beautiful species that visits our region time and time again.

The cetacean sightings were also accompanied by numerous encounters with Portuguese Man O’ Wars (Physalia physalis), a Bubbleraft snail (Janthina janthina) and a few swooping Manx (Puffinus p. puffinus) and Cory’s shearwaters (Calonectris borealis). The Atlantic Ocean is truly a wonderful place and it’s good to be back.

By Paula Thake

Sightings of the day

Stenella

09:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Short-finned pilot whales, Sperm whales

13:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Bubbleraft snail, Portuguese Man O’ Wars

16:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Striped dolphins, Portuguese Man O’ Wars