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It’s Friday and on Friday’s one gets always their groove on with friends. Seems like the whales are doing the same…
We were so happy to sight two days ago the first Sei Whale (Balaenoptera borealis) , yet today we also sighted one individual feeding in the same area as the Spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) probably feeding off the same resource, in this case: fish.
Sei Whales are known to eat krill but can also incorporate into their diet small fish like, mackerel and anchovies. Marine mammals as you know are quite big animals and are in need of large amounts of food, especially when you weigh around 45 tonnes, same applies to dolphins but instead of 900 kilos of food a day they will need around 20 kilos of fish a day. So it all comes down to getting that Omega 3 …if you know what I mean, lol.
It was quite a sight! There is nothing more incredible than observing marine life in its natural environment, but today was like going to the cinema to see one movie and getting a free ticket for a friend as well, 2×1 discounts.
This is just a metaphor to explain that sometimes in life one gets more that what we bargain for.
After leaving the Spotted dolphins and Sei Whale, feeding of fish, we continued to find a male Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) that dove for around 50 minutes (a quite average amount for a male looking for food in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean). But this Sperm Whale was not alone, can you believe that Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) where harassing the whale, Yes you heard me right harassing the whale! It was unclear why they did so, Bottlenose dolphins can be quite territorial there is no doubt about it.
Let’s always hope that those fish are around to continue feeding the amazing marine mammals that swim across the world’s oceans.
a Happy Friday to all. =)