What are morning about if not to enjoy the sea.
We navigated 3 miles offshore to find a pod of Striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba), in the morning. Striped dolphins are found in abundance in the North and South Atlantic Ocean. Adult Striped dolphins feed mainly on squid, octopus, crustaceans and other cephalopods. Yet in the northeastern Atlantic Striped dolphins usually feed on fish. The common name was given to these dolphins since they have two black bands circling the eye and continuing along their body. These beautiful animals have a distinctive way of behaving, they will be very acrobatic and will not be very curious towards humans. Fascinating different behaviours in cetaceans are very interesting to observe, especially in nature.
Jumping Striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba)
Our journey continued when we were able to observe a jumping Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus). Why is this special you may ask ?? I have seen jumping whales on documentaries before??
Cetaceans have different behaviours depending on the species. Dolphins can be curious about humans, some dolphins, like Striped dolphins will never get really curious about a boat. The same applies to Sperm Whales, since jumping is a rare behaviour for a 38 tonne sized juvenile. Not everyone on our boat got to see the jumping Sperm Whale, we were navigating a mile to get to him yet everybody saw him resting at the surface. The Sperm Whale gained speed, he travelled at the surface for at least 20 minutes before diving allowing us to observe its fluke.
Mother Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) breaching.
In the afternoon our guest enjoyed the most beautiful mix of Common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) and Striped dolphins feeding in the same area. The animals can socialize as well during these encounters. They often mix in the pods like in the morning, when we encounter the pod of Striped dolphins there were also three Common dolphins behaving like our acrobatic friends.
Nothing to say but to remember another great day filled with life and color in one of the most beautiful oceans ever the “Atlantic Ocean”.
