The morning started glorious, with a group of Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis). As usual, they curiously swam beside the boats, putting smiles on everyone’s faces. A particular individual though made everyone’s tour an unforgettable experience. It was a young dolphin which suddenly jumped out of the blue and kept leaping higher and higher out of the ocean besides us. While the passengers could not believe what they were seeing, I tried to do my best to capture the moment on camera. Not only to have a pretty memory for our guests, but also to confirm my guess: The dolphin had a Remora fish (Echeneidae) attached to his belly. Dolphins and whales may leap out of all different reasons, but Remora fish seem to be unwanted hitchhikers, resulting in dolphins twisting and turning while jumping repeatedly. We could not confirm how long it took the young dolphin to shake off the fish, as we headed off to our next destination. Our spotter had found some Risso’s dolphins (Grampus griseus) further offshore. We managed to encounter them both in the morning and in the afternoon. One of the most remarkable features of this species is their coloration. They are born grey and will attain scars over their lives, which remain light in colour, clearly visible on their skin. Especially the males will get almost completely white with age, while females maintain darker, less scarred. This helps to guess the gender of the dolphin out on sea easily. Research has shown that Risso’s dolphins often group up by gender, with individuals which are not genetically related. This afternoon, we could confirm this hypothesis by sightings of a ‘nursery group’ of females with young calves followed by a group of large, almost completely white individuals, presumably adult males.
by Sarah Kather
Sightings of the day
Ribeira Brava
09:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins, Risso’s dolphins
13:30 Risso’s dolphins
Stenella
09:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins, Risso’s dolphins
13:30 Risso’s dolphins