13.04.2024 – A Day of Discovery
April 20, 2024
16.04.2024 – Madeira’s Dolphin Duo
April 23, 2024
We headed out to sea in calm seas with limited visibility. And it was wonderful, marvellous, magnificent! Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), unfortunately on their way to the fish farm to get a quick bite, travelled a bit with us. The Short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) glided in silent harmony through an absolutely blue sea. But that was not all. Suddenly there was great (!!!) excitement. For good reason, because a Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) was spotted. The largest animal ever to exist on our planet!
We had to hurry at lunchtime to make it to our huge visitor in time. And it worked. He made two wonderful appearances. What an incredible experience. On the way back we also saw a group of Bottlenose dolphins.
Blue whales travel through the sea at 10-20 km/h, but can also accelerate up to 30 km/h. They eat up to 7 tonnes of food and consume up to 7 tonnes per day. They can take in 80,000 litres of water plus plankton in one gulp. This provides them with around 480,000 kilocalories. That is 90 times more energy than he consumes for a dive.
By Fatima Kutzschbach
Sightings of the day
Ribeira Brava
09:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Common dolphins, Blue whale
13:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Blue whale
Stenella
09:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Common dolphins, Blue whale
13:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Blue whale
16:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Pilot whales, Common dolphin
