Blainville’s beaked whales, Pilot whales, Bottlenose dolphins, Spotted dolphin, Baleen whale, Striped dolphins
We have recently seen the following whale and dolphin species on our whale watching tours off La Gomera:
- Pilot whales (Short-finned pilot whales)
- Bottlenose dolphins
- Atlantic spotted dolphin
- Blainville’s beaked whales
- Baleen whale (unidentified)
- Striped dolphins
Summer is well and truly here: Unfortunately some tours without sightings.
But on one tour we suddenly ended up in ‘rubbish islands’. And in the middle of it all were 4 Blainville’s beaked whales, possibly looking for snacks. A danger for them, as they could confuse prey with plastic and thus swallow plastic. Our team and the guests on board were shocked.
One day later, we encountered the 4 Blainville’s beaked whales again.
Bottlenose dolphins were having breakfast right outside the harbour. Flying fish tried to escape them, but they didn’t stand a chance. It was a great spectacle to watch the bottlenose dolphins hunting in the light of the rising sun.
On one tour, we spotted a family of bottlenose dolphins, one of which had a fairly recent wound: its dorsal fin had either been bitten off by another animal or cut off by a propeller.
Spotted dolphins presented us with their little babies as they swam past.
Striped dolphins passed us by. As always, they were ‘on the move’ and hard to reach.
Pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins spent a lot of time together. At times it looked like they were having little scuffles or playing with each other. Only they know what exactly is happening between them.
A baleen whale appeared very briefly. Unfortunately, we were unable to identify it.
We also encountered a large and a mini loggerhead turtle, a hammerhead shark and a marlin.
The sighting rate for this period was 62%.
Fotos: Noel Covián, OCEANO Archiv