05.06.2024 – Come again?

While wind and waves prevailed our afternoon tour, the morning still felt like one of these easy-going trips, observing particularly curious and energetic species in crystal clear water.

Our beautifully remodelled fisher boat Ribeira Brava headed out this morning, already decelerating after a few minutes – “Tartaruga” shouted Pedro, our captain. It was a Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta Caretta), resting on the surface. We still managed to catch a view from the distance, after which the turtle decided return into the depths. A sharp turn and quick sailing close by the coast led us to the first sighting that our spotter on land had found – Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). The group of about 10 individuals, including a calf, were in a curious mood today, even the youngest member swam besides his mother right at our bow, where many of us leaned over, only a few meters distance from these compelling beauties. We could have stayed much longer, but a call from our spotter Carlos promised another possible sighting. With a heavy heart, we said goodbye to this group and sailed westwards, rewarded with dozens of Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis). Amongst them, there were many calves, probably not much longer than a meter in length. For many of our guides and guests, this species is their favourite of all the animals that we encounter in our Madeiran waters, due to their playful nature. They also slowed off today, bow riding, often turning and swimming upside down, sometimes even leaping entirely out of the ocean. Then suddenly, some individuals started to lobtail – slapping their flukes onto the water surface while swimming. What for are dolphins doing that? For any whales and dolphins, sound is crucial, necessary for any of their life aspects, as feeding, orientating, mating, and communicating. Lobtailing is often interpreted as a way of communication, possibly resulting from excitement, both joyful or aggressive. As we are unable to ask them, we might never now what exactly or dolphins were saying today, but surely appreciated the time they accepted and curiously swam around us.

By Sarah Kather

Sightings of the day

Click on each sighting to access the photo gallery of the correspondent trip

Ribeira Brava

09:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins