18.06.2025 – The small brother of the Killer whale

Today the day already started great. We had wonderful weather and the ocean was calm. The first rep of both boats, let us appreciate the beauty of the Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and the Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis). These are beautiful animals which we see frequent in the waters around the island.

After a nice lunch break, we went out again to the ocean and to our surprise we had the first sighting of the year of the False killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens). This dolphin species is called like this because its has a similar skull structure like the true Orca (Orcinus orca) which we rarely see here around. The False killer whale visits Madeira more often than the Orca, but still is rare. That is why it is always a special moment to see them. They are also one of the few predators of our smaller dolphins, like the Spotted dolphin from the morning. False killer whales are not shy and approach vessels sometimes even riding the waves created by them. It is impressive when you see these large animals swimming in the bow waves of your vessel.

The last trip also allowed us to appreciate on of the large baleen whales which we might see around Madeira. It was the Sei whale (Balenoptera borealis). This one only passes through our waters without stopping for a longer time.

By Horst Schulte

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:00 Bottlenose dolphin, Atlantic spotted dolphin, Loggerhead sea turtle

13:00 False killer whale

Stenella 

09:30 Bottlenose dolphin, Atlantic spotted dolphin, Loggerhead sea turtle

13:30 False killer whale

16:00 False killer whale, Sei whale