Meet Joana
May 8, 2026
There was plenty to see off the coast of Madeira today. To mark the occasion, I’d like to share a few fun facts about toothed and baleen whales.
They all belong to the order Cetacea and are mammals. But there are also major differences!
Toothed whales, as the name suggests, have teeth. Baleen whales have baleen plates, which act as a filtering system.
In toothed whales, the males are larger; in baleen whales, it is the females.
Toothed whales navigate using sonar; baleen whales do not have any. Toothed whales have one blowhole; baleen whales have two.
P.S. Dolphins are a type of toothed whale.
By Fatima Kutzschbach
Sightings of the day
Ribeira Brava
09:00 Sperm whales
13:00 Sperm whales, Pilot whales, Bottlenose dolphins
Stenella
09:30 Sperm whales, Fin whale, Common dolphins, Striped dolphins, Risso’s dolphins
13:30 Sperm whales, Pilot whales, Bottlenose dolphins, Fin whale, Loggerhead turtle
16:00 Sperm whales, Fin whale, Bottlenose dolphins, Loggerhead turtle
