05.01.2022 – A beautiful winter day

In my introductory speech, I was like to mention that we never know what and whether something is waiting for us in the Blue Office. Every encounter with friends of the sea is a gift. Today was also a day of nice surprises. Right near the coast, we first encountered Short-finned Pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) and a small school of Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). They all moved calmly north-west. The animals were spread over a large area, and we enjoyed closer contact with a few subgroups. The Bottlenose dolphins, however, behaved cautiously.

We changed to another observation area and the marine mammal species. In this next sighting, we had a wonderful encounter with our winter dolphins, the Short-beaked Common dolphins (Delphinus delphis). Here, too, there were a number of subgroups at first, but at the end of the observation a majority of the animals came together. The sea was smooth, and the dolphins glided through the brilliant blue. Some of the animals socialized, others seemed to be snacking, others approached the boat and rode in the bow wave.

The sea was smooth, and the dolphins glided through the brilliant blue. Some animals socialized, others seemed to be snacking, others approached the boat and rode in the bow wave.

Anyone who has seen the animals can confirm that they do not look common or ordinary at all. On the contrary, they are beautiful creatures. Common dolphins come from the fact that this species of dolphin was sighted in great abundance in earlier times.

In the afternoon, it took a while until we finally had a sighting. But it was worth waiting. Common dolphins stayed in many subgroups over a large area. They seemed to have fish here and there or enjoyed swimming in our bow wave. It was a nice meeting.

On the way back, a baleen whale suddenly and unexpectedly appeared. During our tour it was not possible to identify the whale, but a closer look on the computer showed that it was a Sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis). Unfortunately, I have to say that this animal did not seem to be in good physical condition. The photos are not in focus, but I added them to the blog.

By Fatima Kutzschbach

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

14:30 Common dolphins, Sei whale

Stenella

10:00 Pilot whales, Bottlenose dolphins, Common dolphins