Welcome to the season 2014

Text: Brigitte Achatz, photos: firmm

If the wonderful sightings of the first boat trips are indicative of the whole season, we can be more than content, because then it will be a good one. On our first trip on the 28th of march we got greeted from around 80 Bottlenose Dolphins, despite the grey weather and the cloudy sky. What a pleasure, obviously they wanted to show us that they had survived the winter well. Only a  short time later we saw some Pilot whales with their calves. To our great relief, there are again young ones among our resident Pilot whale families.

   

On the following trips we sighted the two smaller dolphin species, the Common dolphins and the Striped dolphins. They jumped lively around our boat and accompanied us for a long time. It didn’t take too long and we also spotted the largest of all the toothed whales, the Sperm whale.

Already on our third trip he made us aware of his presence with his typical blow, which is directed obliquely to the left. All those present could observe him for a long time, filling up his huge body with oxygen and then, diving down with an amazing grace for such a huge animal, showing his enormous tail fluke.

     

We were more than surprised as we saw a single flamingo flying over our boat. It was the first time in 16 years that we experienced that. In former times there have been many flamingos near Tarifa, but nowadays you only see them occasionally near the river "Jara".

The next day we had the incredible luck to see the same Sperm whale once again, this time we even could observe him for a longer time. Obviously he had just surfaced and then it can take 10 – 15 minutes until he has stored enough oxygen for his next long dive. On this day we had all in all a tour of superlatives, because there were also Striped Dolphins, Pilot whales and quite a lot of Bottlenose dolphins swimming by.

The following day three Pilot whale babies and a new born, which was only 2 or three days old, got a lesson from their mothers. About 18 adult Pilot whales wanted to show their little ones our boat, as they never saw a Whale Watching boat before; the mothers knew that they didn’t need to have any concerns regarding our boat, so they let them examine and inspect it curiously. Eventually they have to learn whom they can trust and when it’s safer to swim away quickly.

     

On another trip there was a huge pod of Striped dolphins coming our way, doing a lot of show and keeping us entertained with their jumps. In Algeciras, where we had to go to, avoiding the stormy weather in Tarifa, we had a special excursion with approximately a dozen curious Bottlenose dolphins.

On the 12th of April finally we got greeted from many old acquaintances. Some of our Pilot whales, that also can be adopted, said hello for the first time after the long winter. First we saw only a few, but as soon as we started our return journey, all of them suddenly appeared: Edu, Nina, Sierra, Ponce and Baby Hook, Gonzo, Vicente, Fernando and also Mocho and Pedro. A joyful message for all adoptive parents, now we know that all the animals are well.

    

Altogether about 20 animals, mainly mothers who wanted to show us proudly their little ones. First only on one side of the boat, later also on the other side we were besieged, so that we could not even drive away when we saw the blow of a Sperm whale in the distance.

We had to stay with them, because Diego our captain simply could not leave, we wanted under no circumstances to harm the animals. We always, as soon as we approach a group of animals, put the engine immediately in neutral, so that the ship’s propeller doesn’t turn anymore and the animals are not exposed to even the smallest danger.

     

Therefore also on this day we returned to the harbour not only happy but also content, we were really pleased that so many of our adoption animals greeted us so cheerful and lively and survived the wintertime well.