20.08.2023 – Plastic is no toy

After a long search we found a school of Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the morning. A little calf was in their midst, well cared for by its mother. One of the dolphins repeatedly jumped out of the water. It was clearly visible that he had a piece of plastic in his mouth, hanging down either side of his lower jaw. Had it caught between his teeth? Did the dolphin wanted to show us this piece of plastic? Bottlenose dolphins in particular “play”(?) sometimes with plastic floating in the sea. I’ve often seen them come to the boat with it. Plastic is a serious problem in our oceans. 70% of our beautiful planet is covered by water. If you now consider that in every square kilometer there are hundreds of thousands of pieces of plastic, that’s frightening. That is unimaginably much. If the plastic gets into the stomach of a sea creature, it can mean the end of it. 90% of the plastic floating in the sea comes from land. For example, it is channeled into our oceans via rivers that act as a conveyor belt. Waves, sun and salt grind the plastic into micro particles. It remains in the sea and is also ingested by the smallest creatures in the sea. A good reason to pay close attention to whether and if so, how much plastic you use in everyday life.

As promised, here is the link to our petition page to speak out against what is happening in Japan/Taiji.

https://www.lobosonda.com/whale-watching/marine-protection/

On the midday tour we hurry to get to the Ribeira Brava to catch the Bottlenose dolphins in time. It worked exactly to the point. We met them right in front of the harbor entrance. We had some nice moments with them. The wind suddenly picked up, as if at the push of a button. It was a bumpy, wet ride. A real North Sea feeling came up. Our guests were in a good mood and definitely had real sea legs.

By Fatima Kutzschbach

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:30 Bottlenose dolphins

13:30 Bottlenose dolphins

Stenella

09:30 Bottlenose dolphins

14:00 Cancellation due to weather conditions

17:00 Cancellation due to weather conditions