24.10.2018 – Where is Mummy?

Today has been a great day of Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) sightings. We encountered those giants of the depth during all three trips. Very interesting have been the observations of the youngest individuals.

Those Sperm whale kids are not able to follow the older animals on their dives to feed deep down in the ocean. Therefore, the young ones stay close to the surface where they accompany different members of their social group while the majority of the whales is foraging in the depth. It´s not only the mum keeping an eye on her baby. When she is hungry and needs to go down other group members will take over the babysitting. The presence of a nearby larger animal increases the security of the offspring. The Sperm whales change their dive patterns accordingly: it´s less synchronous when there are calves in the group.

But there are some occasions when the young ones follow their curiosity and take a closer look at one of our boats. In October 2016 my colleague Daniel managed to film one of those awesome moments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHh9EEOs_B4. You should definitely take a look!

by Jan-Christopher Fischer

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

10:00 Sperm whales

Stenella

10:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Sperm whales

15:00 Sperm whales