08.10.2022 – Little surfers

What an extraordinary morning its been! I love getting out on the sea with no expectations and returning absolutely mind blown. This morning was one like this. We found Pilotwhales in the wild wild West. At first the sea was glassy and let us observe the Pilotwhales eye to eye and see their cheeky little smile ( in fact the way the faces of most Toothed Whales and dolphins are shaped makes them look smiley..) The Zodiak went all in and travelled even further into the wild wild West, where the swell was rising and turned it all into a proper Adventure. Following our gut and the birds, we managed to find this overly excited pod of surfing Spotties (Stenella frontalis). The kind of weather that makes us seasick, is exactly the one that dolphins love to surf from wave to wave. Most dolphins breach for excitement, to assert dominance, attract mates.. sort of like a physical exclamation mark. Or simply make a great show on our Whale watching tours – thanks for that Spotties, we are forever grateful! Of course also resistance is lesser in air than in water, so jumping from wave to wave makes them save some energy too when travelling fast.

by Paulina Kalita

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

10:00 Pilot Whales

14:30  No sighting

Stenella

10:00 Atlantic Spotted dolphins, Pilot Whales

15:00 Bottlenose dolphins