26.05.2022 – The dolphin sea

Today in the morning we went to our blue office with two speedboats. The H2O team actively supported us. Together we set off on a dolphin adventure because today we were spoiled at sea. Estefânia, our spotter today, reported one sighting after the other. Thank you Estefânia, thank you Lino and Magno, thank you H2O.

First we encountered an active pod of the Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) which, as soon as they knew we were coming, made great leaps towards us. They use the fact that air resistance is less than water resistance to their advantage. Their small, round bodies then perform long leaps. It almost seemed like they were as comfortable in the air as they were in the water.

In the second sighting area, two different species of dolphins had teamed up. Short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) and Striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) can occasionally be observed together. In both schools of dolphins, there were youngsters practicing the art of jumping. It still looked a bit awkward, but very cute.

Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) were reported close to the coast, on the way Atlantic spotted dolphins crossed our path again. The Bottlenose dolphins seemed to be having a little fishy lunch.

The afternoon tour started with calmly migrating Bottlenose dolphins, followed by lively Atlantic spotted dolphins and then further offshore there was a mixed group of Short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) and Bottlenose dolphins. Brief mergers of these two species are also common.

One of the Bottlenose dolphins jumped several times. In the computer, we were able to take a closer look at the animal. Two things stood out. First, it was a female. In order to recognize this, it is helpful to look at the abdominal area. Males, like females, have a genital slit and an anus slit. The female, however, has a small teat slit on the left and right next to the genital slit. If you zoom in on the picture, you are able to see it for yourself. The second thing we discover was that the animal had a rope around the head area. We will be keeping a close eye on our Bottlenose dolphins over the next few days to see if it was able to slip off the rope.

What a successful day, in the blue office. All the guests and the crew definitely took a good portion of EnDOLPHIN home with them today. It’s supposed to make very happy 😉

by Fatima Kutzschbach

Sightings of the day

Stenella

09:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Common dolphins, Striped dolphins, Bottlenose dolphins

15:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins, Pilot whales