06.07.2024 – Pilot Whale FC

Today, upon viewing Pilot Whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) on the 14:00 and 17:00 Stenella Tours, we discussed twice how old they get. A pilot whale matriarch can reach up to 65 years old. Given the ongoing events on television, this means there exists a theoretical Pilot Whale football team. Mother Pilot Whale could’ve seen them play in circa 15 Oceanic Football Championships (given that the Oceanic Football Cup also happens every 4 years). This is impressive, but they would not be the ultimate mega-fans in the big, wide blue. Within the Cetacean League, Bowhead Whales will have seen their team play 50 tournaments; Greenland Sharks (from the vertebrate subdivsion) would have seen 125; but the ultimate mega-fan is Black Coral from the invertebrate subdivision, having watched their team play 1000 times over 4000 years. Crazy to think that at that time the English men’s team still wouldn’t have won the euros.

by Peter Worth

Sightings of the Day

Ribeira Brava

09:30 Atlantic Spotted Dolphin, Bottlenose Dolphin

13:30 Sperm Whale, Atlantic Spotted Dolphin

Stenella

09:30 Risso Dolphin, Atlantic Spotted Dolphin, Bottlenose Dolphin

14:00 Pilot Whale, Atlantic Spotted Dolphin

17:00 Pilot Whale, Atlantic Spotted Dolphin