17.06.2025 – Travellers of the Atlantic

Today on our trip we could appreciate one of our beautiful sea birds we have here around Madeira. It is the Cory’s shearwater (Calonectris borealis). This bird is part of the Procellariidae, which means “Tube nose”. This comes from the fact that they have a tubelike structure on the beak which is the end of a gland which filters excess salt out from the blood. This mechanisms allows them to drink saltwater and survive on the open ocean like that.

Cory’s shearwater arrive here on Madeira in March and nest here until October. Madeira is one of the few places where they nest, as they nest only in the islands of Macaronesia. They are very true to their partner and stay their whole live together, although the winter months are spend separately in the open Atlantic, travelling south towards Brazil and South Africa. Here on the island we can hear the birds, mostly after sunset, as their calls are noisy and strange, similar to fighting cats, crying children and frogs mixed together. Keep an ear out should you visit us in those months.

Apart from these birds we saw also some dolphins, specifically Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis). These are some of the most common dolphins we sea in the summer months.

By Horst Schulte

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphin

13:00 Blainville’s beaked whale

Strenella

09:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphin