27.12.2023 – Classic coastal delights

The weather hasn’t been making things easy for our crew this December but challenging situations have never stopped us from trying to find dolphins or whales out at sea. Both our boats had to travel far east to find animals and both managed a sighting of our classic coastal cetaceans; the Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). These dolphins often swim so close to shore that they can be spotted from the coastline (even without binoculars).

Today they were opportunistically feeding close to the aquaculture in from of Campanário, a behaviour we are seeing more frequently these days. Of course the dolphins were completely focused on the pursuit of whatever prey they were hunting underwater and not giving us much attention. They did, however, pass near our bow a few times giving our guests on board a lovely intro to one of Madeira’s most important predators.

Our crew on the Stenella met another important predator species further off the coast of Funchal. Here a family of Short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) had just surfaced from a foraging dive in the choppy waters. These peaceful cetaceans usually prefer deeper waters further offshore, making them harder to track under difficult weather conditions but our team managed a brilliant sighting with them.

By Paula Thake

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:30 Bottlenose dolphins

Stenella

09:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Short-finned pilot whales