18.06.2024 – It Is How It Is
June 24, 2024
20.06.2024 – Everything Where Its Supposed To Be
June 27, 2024
Business as usual, our guests will be briefed prior to every trip about what to expect and which precautions to take during the trips out on the open ocean. What can we hope for, what would we have to be careful with? Well, we are in Madeira, the island of everlasting sunshine, am I right? Suncream is always a good idea, we even got pretty sombrero hats to be better protected; But be careful, in case it gets windy, or we drive fast, hold on to your hats and other belongings. Eat something light before the trip, use the bathroom before you go, take seasickness medication if you doubt, take some water and an extra sweater with you, just in case. And obviously, we will be on open boats out on the open ocean, you could get some sea spray onto you, maybe…
The morning trips started with a slight breeze, and it took our spotter on land only a few minutes to find several groups of dolphins. These are amongst our most sighted species, being the resident Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), the playful Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) and the elegant Short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis). Stunned by these marvellous creatures, for many of our passengers it was a long-awaited dream to observe them in the wild, and this morning many of them swam only a few meters away from us at the bow. Grateful about these encounters, we started our way back along the beautiful southern coast of Madeira, but this time, necessarily against the wind and waves. We could feel the breeze building up, and even our guests sitting comfortably and much higher up on Ribeira Brava started to use their sombreros like shields against the sea spray. Luckily, our guests took it with humour and the ride was accompanied by cheerful laughter. And who would have guessed, even a hammerhead shark (Sphyrna zygaena) showed up at the surface just before returning to the home port.
As the winds kept building up, our afternoon tours only took place on Stenella. We prepared our guests for the adventurous trips – mentally and physically, fully equipped with waterproof pants and jackets. Ready for the rollercoaster ride?
by Sarah Kather
Sightings of the day
Click on each sighting to access the photo gallery of the correspondent trip
Ribeira Brava
09:30 Common dolphins, Hammerhead shark
Stenella
09:30 Common dolphins, Bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins
13:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Hammerhead shark
