27.09.2018 – Echoes in the east
Our spotter had spent the larger part of the afternoon scanning the Southwest waters of the island but wasn’t able to locate any animals in the area so our zodiac immediately headed east after leaving the marina. While covering a…
26.09.2018 – We are related to …
Who thinks of marine mammals, certainly has first whales and dolphins in mind. In fact, this is just one group of the four different marine mammal groups. Interestingly, all come from different land mammal species. The seals nearest relative ashore is…
25.09.2018 – Cetaceans in danger
Today there were no animals around. Fortunately, days like this are extremely rare. For reasons we don´t know the cetaceans must have left the island. This reminds us on how blessed we are here on Madeira with the usual great…
24.09.2018 – Voices in the depth
There has not been a lot of activity in the waters South of Madeira today. Anyway, after hours of searching from land and sea some long oval shapes came into sight not too far off the bow of our traditional…
23.09.2018 – More than just a picture
Both our boats had to venture far towards the east of the island to find animals, a rather unusual situation for our crew. I was on board the Stenella with a lovely group of interested guests who seemed to enjoy…
22.09.2018 – With all senses?
Dolphins move in a blue multi-dimensional world, from which dangers can lurk at all times from all directions. While being in the group provides some protection, all available senses must be used for protection, but also for orientation and hunting….
21.09.2018 – Good and bad sightings
On our tours today, we have been lucky enough to see a variety of sea creatures: Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) and Striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) in the morning, shy Blainville´s beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris), a shark and two Loggerhead…
20.09.2018 – Close-up
The moments before you see a Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) during a Whale-watching tour are (almost) as spectacular and exciting as those during a sighting. Our spotter informed us of two of these massive toothed whales out at sea after…
19.09.2018 – Rete mirabilis
Rete mirabilis sounds mysterious. Like something that has been projected into life by the magical lantern. In fact, it is also full of mystery and miracles, which is why it is also called wonderful net. But what’s up with this magical…
18.09.2018 – Big and small
The smallest cetaceans occurring around Madeira are the dolphin species of the genus Stenella, which are represented by the Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) and the Striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba). The biggest animals around here are the baleen whales (Balaenoptera…