Text: Katharina Heyer, photos:firmm

The 27th season in Tarifa lasted from the 01st of April to the 05th of November 2024. April started with a lot of rain and wind. After that, it was a very eventful season, with moderate wind and many beautiful, but also sad experiences.

We regularly saw common dolphins and striped dolphins in both small and larger pods.

We encountered the orca pod, which we have known for 27 years, with our sponsored animals Matriarch, Camorro and Baby Wilson, a total of 5 times. There were also orca sightings of the group from Barbate, which attracted attention due to their attacks on sailing boats.

Last year's record of sperm whale sightings was surpassed this year with over 400 sightings. However, the number of fin whales sighted was slightly lower than last year at 94. Only 4 sponsored animals were not seen. We have received confirmation from researchers in the Mediterranean, the Alboran region, that there are usually more than 100 pilot whales there and that we can therefore assume that animals that have gone missing in our area are staying there for exchange and will then return to the Strait of Gibraltar in about 2-3 years.

Bottlenose Dolphins

We have known Lolly since 2007 and she has been a mum 4 times since then. She still has the same sized fungus on her dorsal fin, which hasn't got any worse. We saw her over 30 times between the 3rd of April and the 30th of October.

Baby Leila is the name of the first new-born bottlenose dolphin baby. We baptised her on the 29th of June and saw her regularly until the 30th of September, always close to her mother.

Puzzle still swims in larger groups. From the 30th of July to the 5th of October, we regularly spotted him in the midst of larger families.

White Cap usually swam with Lolly in the same family and was frequently seen from the 21st of May to the 8th of October.

Salto always attracts all the attention with his sensational jumps. The children on board are particularly enthusiastic about the mostly unexpected jumps.

Pilot Whales

Baby Tony was, as always, the first newborn pilot whale baby. You could see from his vertical birth stripes that he was only 2-3 days old. He was lively and ready to explore the world.

Ponce, a very large male, was unlucky this summer. From the 2nd of April on we often saw him still healthy and from the 13th of July he was discovered with a badly inflamed injury to his dorsal fin. He must have been targeted by biologists who are always trying to mark whales with chips. Unfortunately, they often don't do this properly and the chips don't attach well. Thank goodness his infected wound is healing, and we hope to see him cured next year.

Sierra used to travel with Ponce all the time. We only saw her once on the 15th of April. She probably left after her partner was injured.

We only observed Johnny 7 times between May and August. He was mainly seen at large ‘family gatherings’. Unfortunately, we don't have a photo of him as he usually kept his distance.

Fernando, on the other hand, is more of a loner. He prefers the company of just 2 other pilot whales. However, Dientes is always there. Fernando has been spotted over 40 times and is unmistakable with his white spots on his dorsal fin, which are also the result of an untidily attached chip.

We have spotted Oliver and Nina over 50 times! They are always seen together. Oliver as an extremely large male and Nina as a faithful, somewhat smaller female.

Dientes treuer Begleiter von Fernando schon seit vielen Jahren. Auch er wurde über 40-mal notiert.

Edu wurde gleich ab dem 1. April bis zum Ende der Saison über 50-mal gesehen. Er schwimmt als Pilot seiner ca. 7-köpfigen Familie mit Baby Hook, Triangula, Nuria und Juan immer treu voran.

Baby Hook ist die Mutter dieser Familie mit Edu als vermutlichem Vater. Sie umsorgte vor allem Nuria und Triangula mit ihren Jungen. Sie wurde 55-mal gesehen ab dem 1.4. bis zum Saison Ende.

Franzfin was observed almost 40 times from the beginning of April until the end of the season. He is a handsome and large macho and his small tip at the end of his dorsal fin is only recognisable at close range. He moved around in various families.

Vicenta is easily recognisable. Her two injuries on her back are unchanged and do not seem to hinder her. Antonio and Punto have often been seen near her.

Rikki with her old injury is clearly recognisable. She was seen from time to time throughout the summer, from the 3rd of April to the 4th of October, mostly with larger families. However, she likes to keep her distance from the boat.

Sonja has often changed families. She has a conspicuous, slightly injured dorsal fin and is therefore easy to recognise. She often travelled in the company of Luis, one of the largest pilot whales in the Strait of Gibraltar.

Willy was only seen once in a large group of over 50 pilot whales. He was probably not always recognised. Unfortunately, we don't have a photo of him as he usually kept his distance.

Sperm Whale

Observador only came directly to the boat twice this year: on the 3rd and 6th of May. His curiosity to take a close look at us is of course always unique and exciting for our guests, but also for our boat crew, who are themselves very impressed every time. Seeing his tail fin so close to the boat as he dives majestically is breathtaking!

Orcas

To our great delight, we saw the Matriarch on 5 days between the 19th of July and the 8th of August. She was always together with her son, the father of the pod: Camorro.

Camorro is a handsome and proud orca who often tried to teach his young how to catch fish. Eating fish must also be learnt. His family also included

Baby Wilson, who has grown into a curious teenager. He should be 10 years old by now and moves around freely outside the family. He always loved to be at the back of the boat, inspecting the bubbling water by the engine.

Rivera, the young orca, is slowly growing into an adult orca and was always seen in the family with Camorro.

The orca family, which normally lives near Barbate and also loved the sailing boats this year, was seen 6 times, but only once together with our ‘old’ orcas. We have not yet named these new orcas. However, they are definitely much ‘cheekier’ than our previously known orca family.