Today was such an amazing day.
Everyday at sea is a good day and every species found is a beautiful sight for any animal lover. Yet today we were blessed with surprises a little bit more than usual.
We sighted a group of around 60 Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). The group was very curious and hunting strategically in order to feed of the hundreds of fish that were today on the ocean. These massive dolphins are surely always appreciated by all, since their body mass is always quite intimidating.
We continued or journey in order to locate the two blows that “Nicole” our Lookout girl saw from the coastline.
and guess what to our surprise we found :
First a two dolphins at first we thought it was two common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), and just one was a common dolphin the other one was a hybrid dolphin so a mix between a common dolphin and a stripped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba). So a pretty special animal to see, since most people dont really know that hybrids between different species of cetaceans can occur.
Next on the list was the sighting of a massive beaked whale, most likely to be a Blainville beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris). We observed the whale a few times, something unusual for a beaked whale since they usually diving when sighted.
Blainville’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris) with a well-marked dorsal fin
After a few sightings of the beaked whale we continued or course in order to the location indicated by Nicole.
When at the scene what we found were two Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) feeding on an area we believe must have been filled with krill.
when we came back our colleagues asked our guests -why the sad face? and the answer given was-” We are not sad we are overwhelmed”.
