20.04.2023 – Friends of the ocean

We truly believe the oceans connect people here at Lobosonda. The variety of experiences possible out on the Atlantic are incredible and leave our guests feeling more connected to each other and to the big blue oceans we share our planet with. Some of Madeira’s finest cetaceans surface around the island this morning and our guests enjoyed brilliant sightings with Short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus), Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and Short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) during the tours on both boats. 

While pilot whales tend to remain with their birthed for a significant portion of their lives, oceanic dolphins like common or bottlenose dolphins do things a little differently. They are selective when it comes to their fellow pod members, in a manner similar to how human beings are selective when it comes to friendships. These bonds can last a lifetime, with animals guiding one another through the challenges presented by our modern day ocean. While all dolphins are affected by overfishing, the opportunistic bottlenose gang up to steal catch from Black scabbard fishing lines which may often go terribly wrong for the dolphins.

Dolphin pods often aggregate into larger pods for safety in the open ocean and the beautiful Striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba), a species we saw this afternoon, are renowned for their enormous super pods. These giant aggregations may include over 500 animals and, every so often, a pod of around 50 dolphins fragments off to visit Madeira. One of these smaller subgroups was leaping through this afternoons windy and choppy ocean, and flashed their gorgeous striped pattern as they darted through the wind. 

By Paula Thake

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:30 Bottlenose Dolphins, Short-beaked common dolphins, Short-finned pilot whales 

13:30 Striped dolphins

Stenella

09:30 Bottlenose Dolphins, Short-beaked common dolphins, Short-finned pilot whales