22.05.2024 – Time for Turtles

I’ve just arrived here in sunny Calheta. Having spent the last few years in the colder waters of the North Atlantic. I’m excited to see species unique to warmer waters, and today I saw my first Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta)

Both myself and the turtle have made a long journey to be in Madeira, but there are some big differences between us. While I (at age 25) have hoped across the ocean with a few hours on a plane, the loggerheads (at age 1) have had to swim the entire distance from Cape Verde, Florida, or Mexico just to be here! And while I’ll be here for a meagre 6 months over the summer, they’ll spend 15–30 years here before returning the entire distance back home to have children!

This leads me to wonder: is their chilled nature when we see them bobbing past one of our boats due to the tiredness of the journey or because, with 15–30 years to fill, they’ve got no rush in exploring the waters around Madeira?
Either way, I’m more than happy to see these guys enjoying the oceans as much as me, and I almost feel they match calm island life more than some of our energetic cetaceans. Let’s see what other travellers we might cross paths with in the coming months!

by Peter Worth

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava 

09:30 Bottlenose Dolphin , Common Dolphin, Loggerhead Turtle

Stenella 

09:30 Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin 

13:30 Bottlenose Dolphin, Portuguese Man O’ War

16:00 Bottlenose dolphins