29.09.2023 – Oasis 

Our crew isn’t one to give up at sea. No matter how challenging it may be to find animals we don’t  give up until we have returned to the marina. Naturally this comes at a cost, which includes long and often tedious searches at sea. Apart from the Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) foraging close to the aquaculture in Calheta, our team headed our 4 nautical miles to meet an enormous pod of Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) in the morning and over 10 nautical miles to encounter Rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis) in the afternoon. The latter two weren’t easy to find for our team and involved searches that lasted over 40 minutes.

Thankfully our guests take their time to enjoy the view and admire other little treasures that may be floating around. Our team aboard the zodiac found several pieces of debris, which included organic waste such as wooden logs and non-organic like the enormous light buoy at the surface. All floating debris becomes its own little ecosystem, often encrusted in colonies of algae and gooseneck barnacles and even a few foraging crabs. These creatures then make a fine meal for any passing fish looking for shelter under the debris. This just grows to to show that, even in our pursuit to find the larger macrofauna that we target for our tours, we shouldn’t overlook the oceans little beauties, as it simply turns absolutely everything into an oasis of life.

By Paula Thake

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins

Stenella 

09:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins

14:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Rough-toothed dolphins

17:00 Bottlenose dolphins