28.02.2024 – Early birds

Our Stenella had a lovely and slightly bumpy trip this morning and met three species of dolphins, which we would consider a pretty good start to the day! We hit it off with a pod of Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) that we only got to meet up close at the end of our trip since they were feeding inside the area of the fish farms when we first saw them. The second time was also a charm with the Short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) that were repeatedly diving for their prey and only stayed at the surface long enough for our team to manage a sighting when we returned to the area on our way back to Calheta. The Short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) were hard to miss first time round. This was mainly due to their spectacular leaps at the surface as they were feeding on Halfbeaks (Belone belone) but also due to the group of Cory’s shearwater (Calonectris borealis) circling the hunting area. 

The Cory’s are the first of a large colony that is gradually returning to the island to prepare for the breeding season that begins in May and continues throughout the summer. These “early birds” are the first to arrive to find the perfect spots for their little nests up in the cliffs and the species is generally enormously helpful for our crew when it comes to locating cetaceans at sea. 

In the afternoon our team managed yet another sighting of pilot whales, this time round we even managed a closer encounter and had the animals gliding alongside us. It was wonderful observing these larger dolphins close up but no Cory’s were around, since they wouldn’t find many hunting advantages with these deep divers.

By Paula Thake

Sightings of the day 

Stenella

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

13:30 Short-finned pilot whales