16.09.2022 – About love

Today we had a wedding party on board in the morning. A good reason to talk about love. What forms of love do marine mammals actually have? On our title picture, we see the expression of physical love. If this is successful, the female Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) could have a small calf by her side next year. During this trip, the mothers brought their calves into the bow wave. The little one always swims close to mother’s side. Dolphin moms are very protective. Caring mother love!

Marine mammals are also extremely tactile. Watching them close and perfectly like this morning in the bow of the Ribeira Brava, you can see their flipper tips touching as they swim or a flipper sweeping over the body of the animal next to it. Their synchronous appearance is also a form of expression of friendship. Their supportive demeanor, wonderful teamwork shows their mutual affection. These too are forms of affiliation and love.

Love therefore appears in the most varied of forms in humans and in animals. Whether of a romantic, maternal, caring nature, whether it finds expression in mindfulness, support, devotion, there are different ways where hearts can meet and where one’s soul can be touched.

On the midday tour, we also saw a school of Bottlenose dolphins. This time, as well, we could observe mating behavior and swimming in unison.

By Fatima Kutzschbach

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

10:00 Bottlenose dolphins

15:00 tour canceled due to weather condition

Stenella

09:30 Bottlenose dolphins

14:00 Bottlenose dolphins

17:00 tour canceled due to weather condition