Text: Christine Schmid based on notes by Katharina Heyer, photos: firmm

The 28th whale watching season in Tarifa started on the 1st of April and lasted until the 7th of November.

After a very good spring, we had a summer with several long periods of wind in August and early September, which meant that the boats had to stay in the harbour, resulting in very few Orca sightings.

Common dolphins and Striped dolphins were seen throughout the year in smaller and larger pods. Bottlenose dolphins were also frequently spotted. We were able to marvel at many young animals, especially during the summer months.
Sperm whales were mainly seen in the strait in spring, but also sporadically in autumn. Fin whale sightings were slightly lower than in previous years, with only 51 individuals sighted, including two young animals.

Pilot whales were present throughout the season. We were able to see them continuously even during the summer months, when in other years they have occasionally fled to the Mediterranean for several days during the Orca season. We were unable to locate the four sponsored animals that we missed last season. However, we have added four new animals that you can adopt. We have known them for some time.

As always, here is a brief description of each sponsored animal, based on Katharina Heyer's notes taken during the trips:

Pilot whales

As usual, the family of Baby Hook, Edu and Nuria was one of the first Pilot whale groups to be spotted. We added Nuria to the list of sponsored animals this year, but we have known her since 2023. On the first day of the season, the three of them came to the firmm boat with the other members of their family, including a calf.

As usual, they spent the entire season in a group of about 10, including calves and babies. Every now and then, there were larger gatherings of Pilot whales, with up to 80 animals, including their family. The three are among the most frequently sighted Pilot whales.

As we do every year, we named the first newborn Pilot whale calf we spotted Baby Toni.
On the 6th of April 2025, we spotted this year's Toni in a group of over 10 animals, which also included Vicenta.

Fernando and Dientes swim through the strait together as usual. Every now and then, however, they also socialise with other families.

The once shy Franzfin was once again the first Pilot whale of the season in 2025! He is always easy to recognise thanks to the distinctive tip of his fin. This season, he repeatedly joined various Pilot whale families and was spotted at least once in the company of all the other well-known animals over the course of the year.

Johnny could not be identified this season. He has always been very shy and elusive, appearing more frequently in some years and not at all in others. We hope that he is doing well and that he will pay a visit to the strait again from time to time.

We have known Nina for 10 years. This year, she arrived on time in April, together with her faithful companion Oliver. Oliver first appeared on the 12th of April 2025 in a group of six animals. The two generally travelled together in their small family group, which occasionally joined other groups.

We now see Pedro extremely rarely. However, we can spot him once or twice a year in his original group with Baby Hook and Edu.

Ponce showed up on the very first day of the season. We were very relieved to see that the wound on his fin, probably caused by a poorly attached tag from a careless biologist, was healing and that Ponce was doing well. However, the wound still looks better on some days than others, and it will probably take some time before he makes a full recovery. He has been seen regularly throughout the season and is a frequently sighted Pilot whale.

However, his long-time companion Sierra was nowhere to be found this year. Last year, she had a strange injury, probably a bite, in front of her fin.

Rikki is a special Pilot whale. Although she has a few scars, she is a lively animal who often approaches the firmm boat. This year was no exception, right from the start of the season. On the 15th of July, she even showed us 12 jumps in a row! She usually travels in a group of 4-8 animals but also appeared in the huge group of over 90 animals on the 20th of May.

Sonja is an active female Pilot whale that we frequently spot and can easily recognise by her distinctive fin. She appeared in the first week of the season, accompanied by Juan and two other Pilot whales. We spot her regularly throughout the season, mainly in a group of 4-6 animals.

Vicenta came close to the firmm boat in the first week of April this year in a group of over 10 animals. The group also included Baby Toni, the first Pilot whale calf born this season. She appears from time to time accompanied by Antonio or Luis, but was also part of the big ‘Entrada de Calderones’ (entrance of the Pilot whales) on the 9th of October. This is a phenomenon that we can observe time and again, in which a huge group of Pilot whales coming from the Mediterranean swim purposefully into the strait.

Willy was hardly seen last season, and this year he didn't show up at all.

Beato is a stately, very large Pilot whale. He stands out because of his distinctive dorsal fin, which has a pronounced notch on the underside. We had known him for several years before we added him to the list of animals that are available for adoption in 2025. He usually travels in a small group, but he never misses any of the large Pilot whale gatherings of up to 80 animals that we occasionally witness.

Antonio is a proud, imposing male. He likes to come close to the boat. We have seen him frequently for years and have recorded him in our sighting data since 2023. The underside of his dorsal fin is not smooth, but shows several irregularities. He moves in small groups, often mixed groups, together with Bottlenose dolphins.

Luis is one of the largest male Pilot whales in the Strait of Gibraltar. His impressive size makes him stand out even from a distance. The two indentations below and above the tip of his fin give him a distinctive shape. We have been observing him since 2023.

Bottlenose dolphins

Lolly and Puzzle were the first sponsored animals to be spotted in the 2025 season! We are very happy that they are both doing well. They were often out and about together, even though Lolly is much easier to identify due to the fungal infection on her fin. Puzzle is somewhat shy and only appears sporadically.

Since the beginning of summer, baby Bottlenose dolphins have been spotted from time to time. The first of the season was named Baby Leila, as is the case every year.

White Cap has not been very visible this year either. So far, we have only spotted her twice in May and three times in July. However, she also appeared to have been sighted in Barbate, a fishing village further north-west, by a member of our boat crew.

Salto never ceases to amaze us with his jumps, even though he has been a bit scarce this season.

Sperm whale

Unlike most Sperm whales, Observador often comes close to the boat. Hence his name Observador, ‘the observer’. Even though Sperm whale sightings this year seem low (with around150 sightings) compared to the record years of 2024 and 2023, the number is still well within the average range.

Orcas

This season, there were only three Orca sightings in July and another three in September.

These were all members of the so-called ‘Barbate group’, not ‘our ‘usual group with the Matriarch, Baby Wilson and Camorro. Unfortunately, they did not show up at all this year.