11.04.2017 – Return
April 20, 2017
13.04.2017 – Mirror Sea
April 22, 2017
On marine mammals it’s not that easy, on the first look, to distinguish their gender. So how can we do it? The Orca males have a much bigger fin than the females. The adult males of the Blainville’s beaked whales have two erupted teeth in the upper jaw. When an adult is accompanied by a young one it’s probably a female, the mother. A Sperm whale male is much bigger than the female, but it could be a younger animal as well. And by the way: Who is able to confirm the gender of an animal correctly during an observation from a boat? It is difficult but if we have the opportunity to see the belly side of a whale or dolphin, it can be possible to distinguish their sex. The females, beside the anal and the genital slide have one slide on each side where their teats are hidden. Counting the slides it is possible to be sure about the gender. This is what we can do today with these breaching Striped dolphin. Are you able to determine if it’s a male or female? (I hope the foto is good enough)
von Claudia Gomes
Todays Sightings:
Ribeira Brava
10.00: Bottlenose dolphins
14.30: Bottlenose dolphins
Stenella
10.00: Bottlenose dolphins, Striped dolphins
