What a fantastic day!

In our tour this morning we were lucky to encounter 4 dolphin species!

We started with a group of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). They were socializing and we saw them breaching a lot of times. After a few minutes we had to leave this group because our lookout spotted a pod of Striped Dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba). With their thin, dark stripe running from the eye to the underside of the tail stock, they can be easily distinguished from other dolphin species. They rarely approach vessels, today was no different. They were fast travelling, so we needed speed to keep up with them.

 

 

Later on we arrived on a big food festival. A huge pod of Common Dolphins (Delphinis delphis) were feeding and there must have been at least 100 Cory’s Shearwater around too. We could even see the big bait balls of fish the dolphins were gathering. They were tailslapping to catch them more easy. Amazing spectacle!

 

Common Dolphins (Delphinus delphis) feeding together with the Cory’s shearwater

 

As if this was not enough, on our way back to the island we encountered a small group of Risso’s Dolphins (Grampus griseus). We saw two almost complete white coloured adults swimming next to each other. Because of the white colour we could follow them very easy under the water surface. Risso’s Dolphins become much paler with age and they can have numerous scratches and scars on their body. They were quite shy, but oooh sooo amazing!

 

 

In the afternoon tours we had other encouters with Bottlenose and Common Dolphins.

See you on one of our next adventures!

Jessie Ocket

About Jessie Ocket

Jessie has a strong passion for the ocean and wildlife. Joined the TERRA AZUL team as Volunteer Marine Wildlife Guide in 2019, enjoying out at sea with wildlife, accompanying and informing visitors, and collecting field imagery and data for local Cetaceans and Sea Turtles Research & Conservation projects.

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