May

“YES, they are back!” In May the chance to sight the first Spotted dolphins is very high. During winter these small type of dolphins prefer to travel to warmer areas. But up from spring it is Atlantic Spotted dolphin time! These lively and interactive dolphins are much fun for our guests and the crew. Often they swam in the bow of Ribeira Brava, they turn around and sometimes we even get to look them in the eyes.

By the way every second Saturday in May is World Fair-trade Day! This year it is on May 13th. May 22th is International Day for Biological Diversity. This is a good reason to search the Internet for petitions to support conservation projects.

Based on biological diversity we will go a little bit more in details today. May 16th is “Sea Monkey Day”! These little creatures got really famous. In the 1960s/1970s they were advertised in comic books. If you poured the “lifeless dust” into the water a little miracle happened. The eggs of the sea monkeys came alive. Surely they needed nutrients as well to mature. And now some curious Sea Monkey facts:

• Sea-Monkeys are born with one eye, and pop out two more upon reaching maturity.
• They breathe through their feet
• They are attracted to light
• Males have whiskers under their chins; females don’t.
• They undergo Cryptobiosis (A condition of apparent lifelessness which allows them to survive until conditions improve)
• They went multiple times to space
• There would be much more to tell about Sea Monkeys …

May 23th is World Turtle Day! If you are in Madeira and you are planning to go out with us, keep your eyes open, you might discover a Caretta caretta (Loogerhead turtle).

by Fatima Kutzschbach

CLICK HERE to download the calendar, or copy the following link:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3_2yC7368iVZDJSSXQ3bllmZ0k