14.07.2026 – Playful
July 20, 2026
The diversity of cetaceans we had today was amazing! Among them, wo deep-diving species were encountered: Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) and Blainville’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris).
Blainville’s beaked whales are mysterious animals and not much is known about their abundance. But they are widely distributed and live in temperate and tropical waters. We can easily recognise them from their unique mouth shape. The blainville’s beaked whale has a lower jaw that curves sharply upward. More surprisingly, males have tusk-like teeth that erupt and point forward from their arched lower jaw. We were lucky to have them at the surface and swimming next to our boat. Indeed, these cetaceans are deep-divers, up to 700m and they can stay for up to 50 minutes when hunting deep sea squid. We can sometimes See that their skin has a greenish or yellowish-brown tint. This is due to diatom (algae) infestation.
It is always a delight to witness these striking animals swimming and approach our boat!
By Juliette Colançon
Sightings of the day
Ribeira Brava
09:00 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Bottlenose dolphins, Bryde’s whale
13:00 Atlantic spotted dolphins
16:30 Blainville’s beaked whales, Bryde’s whale
Steno
09:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Bottlenose dolphins, Bryde’s whale
13:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Blainville’s beaked whales, Sperm whales
16:30 Blainville’s beaked whales, Bottlenose dolphins, Bryde’s whale
