30.07.2023 – Showgirl

It was a gentle morning. Magic lay over the mirror-smooth sea. The boat glided through a blue dream. Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) were very kind to us, they accompanied us for a long time. Effortlessly and at the same time powerfully they glided through their element. A dolphin posed and floated, belly up, with ease in front of our bow. As it turned out, it was a female. Near her, always around her, was another dolphin. Playfully, he tried to bite her tail. It almost looked tender. The two circled each other as if in a dance. What a beautiful spectacle. Of course, the showgirl also got all the attention of our guests. It was deeply touching. So how do you know if it’s a male or female dolphin? Males, like females, have an anal slit and a genital slit. Females, however, have a small teat slit on the left and right of the genital slit. If you zoom into the photo, you can clearly see the teat slits.

Afterwards we observed a school of Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis). Showtime was the order of the day here, too. We saw a lot of super high jumps.

On the midday tour we went far to meet the Atlantic Atlantic spotted dolphins. Two sub-groups tried very hard to provide for offspring. Such situations can be recognized quickly. The water is bubbling, the dolphins are hissing rapidly through the water. The whole scenery is reminiscent of a whirlpool.

By Fatima Kutzschbach

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins

13:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Loggerhead turtle

Stenella

09:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins

14:00 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Loggerhead turtle

17:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins