29.03.2018 – Shy transients

Social structures amongst the toothed whale (Odontoceti) members can vary from the matriarchal family structures of Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) and Pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) to the ever-changing community composition of the various dolphin species. While this general description doesn’t apply to individual pods of all regions (or all species for that matter), it does apply to the animals inhabiting the waters around oceanic island habitats such as the Madeiran archipelago. During most of our recent trips we often encountered Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and Short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), which was also the case today. Researchers at local scientific institutions have established that these animals form part of a larger oceanic population and associate randomly with one another. However not all interactions amongst these cetaceans are random. Like human beings, dolphins establish long-term friendships that may even last a lifetime. Male Bottlenose dolphins may even maintain friendships for up to 20 years and actively support each other in their daily activities. Many individual dolphins have been recognized and sighted repeatedly by members of our staff and other companies on the island. This shows that some of the animals posess a certain site fidelity for Madeira which, in the case of the Common dolphins, is more seasonal with the animals being sighted in large numbers at this time of the year.

The dolphins on todays trips were rather shy and less interactive towards our vessels. Most pods contained a few calves which probably induced this evasive behavior. Our guests were nonetheless delighted to see the animals and showed a great deal of interest as I explained their social behavior. This was especially true for all the children on board our traditional boat today, who used the opportunity to inquire about all sorts of mysteries surrounding these creatures.

by Paula Thake

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

10:00 Bottlenose dolphins

14:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Short-beaked common dolphins