Right place, right time

When we brief our guests before embarking on a tour we always attempt to make one thing crystal clear: we never know what to expect during a whale-watching trip. The geographic position of Madeira makes it the perfect place for migrating cetaceans to rest and feed. While scientists have established that there are cetacean species that display a high site fidelity to the islands waters, like several Short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhychus) clans, island-associated Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) or the shy and scarred Blainville’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris), most species are seasonal visitors or simply randomly drop by to rest. This, of course, means that the waters of the archipelago are extremely diverse in nature and careful monitoring on the part of local scientists with the help of whale-watching companies have confirmed this. Currently, 26 species of cetaceans are listed with confirmed sightings around the island: and the list is definitely growing.

Of course it is an honour for whale-watching companies such as ours to contribute to scientific findings on the cetaceans visiting the island. Our spotter also makes sure to inform us of an abnormal sighting and always sends us to the spot to investigate! In 2016, the Lobosonda team delivered high-quality photographic data of an encounter with a small group of Northern Bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon ampullatus), confirming their occasional visits to the island of Madeira. The deep waters of oceanic islands like Madeira are a potential paradise for many of the shy, deep-diving members of the beaked whale family with the most frequently encountered species being the Cuvier’s beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) and the previously mentioned Blainville’s beaked whales. Sightings of Sowerby’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon bidens), the most commonly sighted beaked whale species in the Azores, were also confirmed in Madeira’s waters. Many scientists assume that oceanic islands such as Madeira, the Azores and the Canaries may also serve as potential hotspots for True’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon mirus), an extremely rarely sighted and highly evasive species that is very difficult to observe at the surface.

The fact that the majority of beaked whales are highly evasive makes them very difficult to observe and photograph, but other toothed whale species may be equally timid. Last summer our team managed to track down a group of Pygmy orcas (Feresa attenuata), a rarely encountered rather lethargic oceanic dolphin that is easily confused with the Melon-headed whale (Peponocephala electra) at sea, another seldom visitor in Madeira’s waters. This was the fourth confirmed sighting of this species in Madeira and the photographic evidence from our tour was even provided by one of our guests! Pygmy sperm whales (Kogia breviceps) have also been located by our spotter a few times but the animals always dove before they could be observed by the crew at sea.

On some occasions, particularly during the autumn season, we have sightings involving False orcas (Pseudorca crassidens), a fearless, interactive blackfish dolphin that is only encountered a handful of times a year. The largest of all dolphins, the Orca (Orcinus orca) is also sighted around the island on very rare occasions but these visits are extremely brief, with the animals only resting in the archipelago’s water for some hours. Baleen whale species are especially brief, with a Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) sighting being one of the luckiest encounters one can experience around the island.

What becomes evident after working as a whale-watching guide for some time is that all marine encounters are a question of luck and require us being in the right place at the right time. The diversity of marine life visiting oceanic island such as Madeira is simply mind-blowing and we look forward to which newcomers we can expect in future!

By Paula Thake