Today, as we were observed bottlenose dolphins just outside Calheta, my colleagues Astrid and Daniel fished a bottle from the ocean. It is not uncommon that we stop to take objects out of the water to keep our oceans clean. Today was a special kind of catch though: inside the bottle, there was a little message.
The message was from two young Germans on holiday on Madeira who were curious to see where they message would go. A fun idea, and a nice surprise for us to find it! Unfortunately for them, we found it before it embarked on a tour across the Atlantic Ocean.
For our oceans though, it was probably for the best that we took the plastic out of the water. Plastic is often swallowed by marine creatures, and over time, the plastic degrades under influence of the water and sunlight, releasing toxic substances in the ocean. It would be great if we could shift to a sustainable form of plastic and packaging material. In several European countries, there is already plastic available made from algae, which is 100% biodegradable and non-toxic. Hope for the future!
by Judith Kok
Todays sightings:
Ribeira Brava:
09.00: Bottlenose dolphins, Spotted dolphins
17.00: Bottlenose dolphins
Stenella:
09.00: Bottlenose dolphins, Spotted dolphins
18.00: Bottlenose dolphins