Ponce
We know Ponce since June 28th, 2012. With his approximately eight meters length he is one of the largest Pilot Whales in the Strait of Gibraltar. His pronounced fin is strongly curved and much longer than high.
Ponce, like any other Pilot Whale, has earned his place in the group. He is a very accessible, magical and spiritual animal. He often enjoys swimming up to the stern of the standing boat.
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Fotos
This is how we have experienced Ponce since the beginning of our adoption program:
2014
Ponce is one of the largest Pilot Whales we have here in the Strait of Gibraltar. His partner seems to be Sierra. They are almost inseparable and always travelling together.
2015
Ponce seems to be the leader of his family. He is one of the most imposing Pilot Whales in the Strait of Gibraltar. Sierra is well protected in his family.
2016
Ponce is still one of the largest males in the Strait of Gibraltar. Edu and Pedro often accompany him. They are trustful and like to swim under the boat. It seems that they watch the underwater windows of the firmm-VISION curiously.
2017
This season we only saw Ponce from time to time, mostly mixed with other families. He is still one of the biggest males in the Strait of Gibraltar.
2018
We always saw Ponce at the same time as Sierra, 25 times. Ponce is in his group the leader or "pilot” who seems to take care of his family. He also took part with his family in the family meeting on March 27th, when 70 animals came together, and seems to remain faithful to the Strait of Gibraltar.
2019
We always saw Ponce at the same time as Sierra, 25 times. Ponce is in his group the leader or "pilot” who seems to take care of his family. He also took part with his family in the pilot whale meeting on March 27th, when 70 animals came together, and seems to remain faithful to the Strait of Gibraltar.
2020
It was relatively late this year, only on the 11th of August, that we saw Ponce for the first time. He was often accompanied by Sierra, including at the big pilot whale gathering at the end of August.
2021
We saw Ponce very often, the first time just a few days after the start of the season. As we are used to, he was often accompanied by Sierra. He was also with the cheeky pilot whales that annoyed a sperm whale at the beginning of August.
2022
We saw Ponce for the first time in mid-April. We saw him most frequently in August, but hardly ever in May, June and July. Of the 20 sightings, he was accompanied by Sierra 15 times.
2023
We saw Ponce right at the beginning of the season and were pleased to have encounters with him until the end of the season. The 42 sightings were spread evenly over the months of April to September, only in October did we see him less frequently. Sierra was his faithful companion on all but 4 occasions.
2024
We also saw a lot of Ponce this season (44 times). In July, we saw him with an injury. In the course of August we could already see an improvement in his condition and in September the wound was already getting smaller. We only saw his faithful companion of the past few years, Sierra, at his side once. Otherwise he usually swam with 5-7 other animals.