28.07.2022 – Rough teeth, gentle soul
August 7, 2022
30.07.2022 – Friendly dolphins and Pilots of the sea
August 9, 2022
The beautiful thing about conducting whale-watching in a place like Madeira is the fact that our geographic position allows us to enjoy encounters with an incredible variety of species. From temperate water dwellers to species of the tropics and subtropics, the ocean surrounding our archipelago is simply brimming with life!
Today was a day of tropical species! Apart from the many encounters we enjoyed with Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) on all our tours today, our team also managed sightings with Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), a Bryde’s whale (Balaenoptera edeni) and a wonderfully curious group of Rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis). The latter species were my personal highlight and an absolute joy to experience for Sasha, a young student who is using his hydrophones to record cetacean vocalizations.
Although the arctic Beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) are notorious as the “canaries of the seas”, the rough-toothed dolphins could certainly carry the same name for deep, tropical waters. Their high whistles and humming echolocation clicks rang through the ears of everyone on board during the sighting and demonstrated how highly communicative these cetaceans are! Little is known about the social lives of oceanic groups but some local scientists are on a mission to understand the relationship of these elusive dolphins to Madeira as a habitat. Right after todays sighting, a research boat arrived and successfully tagged an animal and our team is excited to see the results!
In terms of vocalisations the spotted dolphins were also their usual chatty selves today and some buzzing could be heard from the small pod of Bottlenose dolphins. The only rather silent visitor was the baleen whale, who was completely engaged in its foraging dives off the coast. The whales constant shallow dives made it difficult for our team to identify the animal at sea but a quick look at our photos allowed us to assume it was a Bryde’s whale, another tropical visitor here in Madeira.
What a lovely demonstration this day was of the diversity of marine life around our quaint little island!
By Paula Thake
Sightings of the day
Ribeira Brava
10:00 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Bryde’s whale
15:00 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Bottlenose dolphins, Rough-toothed dolphins
Stenella
10:00 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Bryde’s whale
14:00 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Bryde’s whale, Rough-toothed dolphins
17:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Bryde’s whale
