19.02.2020 – May the odds be in your favour

We never give guarantees for sightings during our whale-watching tours because we don’t making promises we cannot necessarily keep. This is especially true for our snorkelling tours in the winter since it’s especially challenging to find the two species of dolphins for this activity: the Short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) and the Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis). Moreover, it also depends on the situation on site. If the animals are feeding or hunting, show little interest or are moving in groups containing young calves we do not go into the water. Keeping these factors in mind, our crew set off onto the Atlantic with some motivated snorkelers and, thankfully, our incredible spotter Carlos was able to find groups of both species. We briefly enjoyed the company of the animals underwater before returning to the marina with beaming smiles. 

The afternoon trip was equally enjoyable. Our spotter lead us to a group of Short-beaked common dolphins and Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), a familiar lineup for this time of the year. The careful approach of our captain facilitated two peaceful and incredible sightings. Of course, luck isn’t the only factor dictating the odds of a successful encounter during our trips. For the greater part we rely on the manoeuvring expertise of our captains and their ability to read the animals behaviour accurately as well as on the sharp, watchful eyes of our spotter. Experience, understanding and a healthy portion of luck allow the odds to be in our favour so we can proudly return from a tour with a group of happy guests. Judging by all the broad smiles we saw on board today, it seems this was indeed the case.

By Paula Thake

Sightings of the day

Stenella

9:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Short-beaked common dolphins (Snorkeling)

15:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Short-beaked common dolphins