21.09.2022 – The howling wolves of the sea

On many of our trips we are lucky to encounter more than one species. To encounter more to species at the same time though, is something very special. Often inter-species interaction is still poorly understood. Today we encountered a pod of Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and short-finned Pilot Whales (Globicephala macrorhyncus) at the same time. And even though those two species have a different diet and diving behavior, it is not uncommon to see those two species together. Pilot Whales have been known to attack Bottlenose dolphins before, in today encounter however they seemed very peaceful and were just following each other. Further out we also encountered our lovely summer companions, the Atlantic Spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis). On the evening tour, guests onboard the Zodiak Stenella were lucky to observe a Monk Seal (Monachus monachus) crawling on the beach. These days this is a very rare encounter of an endangered species that used to be abundant around Madeira. The only seal species that lives in warm waters was in the 80s almost extinct due to hunt for their fur and oils. Thanks to ongoing conversation projects the population grew again to around 30-40 around madeiran water and the desertas islands. Another fun fact about those extraordinary animal: The Portuguese translation for monk seal means howling wolfs that the first settlers of Madeira gave them after finding them howling in the bay of Camara de Lobos or Municipality of the Wolves.

by Paulina Kalita

Sightings of the day

Stenella

10:00 Atlantic Spotted Dolphin, Bottlenose dolphin, Pilot Whale

14:00 Pilot Whales, Bottlenose dolphins

17:00 Bottlenose dolphin, Pilot Whale, Monk Seal

 
Ribeira Brava

10:00 Atlantic Spotted Dolphin, Bottlenose dolphin, Pilot Whale

15:00 Pilot Whales, Bottlenose dolphins