Today’s Sperm Whales were all playing, twisting, showing teeth, and waving the calve’s tiny flippers. Very fun to look at! The Spotted Dolphins were doing some high jumps, maybe to get rid of their parasites as you can see on the photo? Indeed they may jump to clean themselves from barnacles attached to their fins. The young barnacle likes to attach itself to any fast-moving animal part, where the water flow is fastest. In case of cetaceans these are the 3 types of fins. When the barnacles grow to be adults their body becomes very long and almost worm- or leech-like.

 

Milou

About Milou

Milou is Marine Biologist, and was Marine Wildlife Guide at TERRA AZUL from 2010 to 2019. She is from Holland, and is passionate about being out in the ocean with wildlife, informing visitors, and collecting field imagery and data for local Cetaceans and Sea Turtles Research & Conservation projects.