21.10.2022 – Hectic

Our team has had trouble booking tours during the last few days since Madeira is currently being affected by the fringe of a larger storm in the North Atlantic. Our booking team was in constant contact with our guests and sea crew to find a window of agreeable weather for us to go out.

A window of opportunity arrived this afternoon after heavy rains led to the cancellations of our morning tours so we decided to give it a shot. Our spotter managed to guide our team to a group of Short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) that were dashing east and we enjoyed a sighting with these powerful deep-divers before rushing out to see a pod of Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus). The largest of all toothed whales tend to move further out to sea when swimming through the Southwest in order to avoid the “shallow” submarine plateau stretching off the coastline of Paul do Mar. We managed to observe the animals resting briefly at the surface before they lifted their fluke to dive into the abyss.

Our afternoon trip started with a small pod of Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) before our team headed to what could be referred to as our main event of the day on the Stenella. A pod of pilot whales were hastily dashing east before the small group stopped and began socialising at the surface. The animals were making a lot of hectic movements, thrashing and barrel-rolling at the surface, even leaping into the air! We were a little gobsmacked at the sighting since the behaviour displayed was one that had not yet been observed by our team but our captains underwater footage soon solved the mystery. Despite the commotion at the surface, the animals were actually peacefully mating underwater and the coupling was accompanied by a series of wail-like calls. The pod soon got bigger as the rest of the family joined and the animals were so vocal that we could hear their calls from the boat. Incredible! Cetaceans truly never fail to surprise us, even on a choppy day like today.

The video made during the sighting can be viewed on social media (Facebook and Instagram) under the same name as this blog as part of Lobosonda’s #underwatersounds series.

By Paula Thake

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

14:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Short-finned pilot whales

Stenella

13:00 Short-finned pilot whales, Sperm whales

16:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Short-finned pilot whales