05.12.2025 – Outcasts
December 12, 2025
08.12.2025 – Waves, Whales, and Dolphins
December 14, 2025
Today on our trip on the ocean we encountered a mixed group consisting mainly of Short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) and some Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). These are both species which we can encounter the whole year around Madeira, but thanks to photo identification it could be shown that these animals travel between Madeira and the nearby Canary Islands, although nearby means 450km. They use both archipelagos as their home range. Both are ideal for these species, as for the Pilot whales they provide deep waters to hunt for squid and octopi, meanwhile the Bottlenose dolphins finds enough food also in the surface layers. Apart of that natural predators like Orcas (Orcinus orca) are rare.
By Horst Schulte
Sightings of the day
Stenella
09:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Short-finned pilot whales
