10.04.2019 – An astonishing surprise

The afternoon was dipped in grey as we drove out to the sea with our beautiful Ribeira Brava. A strange encounter was waiting for us. A small, very small Baleen whale! Many changes of direction – not an easy starting point for a good photo, even more difficult for an identification. At first we thought it might be a Sei whale calf. But where was the mother? There was no second whale. We were worried because such a calf without a mom would have no chance of survival. Everything about the situation was strange, not as usual! An assumption germinated in me …. I sent the photos to a friend of mine, a Minke whale expert and she confirmed my guess. Due to the proportions and distinguishing features, our today’s sighting is probably a juvenile or adult Northern Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata). Instead of having a  child problem, we saw something very rare and special. Of course we were very happy! 🙂

By the way, Minke whales are part of the smallest of the Baleen whales with their 6.5- 9m. In general, it appears that male Minke whales migrate further north and move more on the open sea, while females prefer inshore waters and remain farther south.

It is described that the descent of the minke whale is done with a high, fast rolling motion – this image of the fast, rolling downward movement during the descent I still have in my memory. You too, dear guests?

Other sea creatures were there to be discovered today. Unfortunately, we did not pay much attention to our Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) this time, because all eyes wandered around to see the next appearance of the whale. The scientific name for the Hawksbill Sea Turtle is (Eretmochelys imbricata), to answer a question here in retrospect 😉 . However, the Portuguese man o’war (Physalia physalis) and the deep-relaxed dog (Canis lupus familiaris) 😉 in the harbor experienced our admiration extensively.

By Fatima Kutzschbach

Sighting of the day

Ribeira Brava

14:30 Minke whale