Text: Brigitte Photos: firmm and Sebastian Kanzler

The beginning of summer brought several sightings of Fin Whales.

The trip on the 24^th of June offered a total of seven animals. Such a high number of this species is truly rare. There were three pairs, one of which was accompanied by a younger animal. A few days later, we saw three animals twice (once in the direction of the Mediterranean and once just off Tarifa). One even jumped completely out of the water. What a pity we didn't have the camera at hand at that moment. At the end of June, we saw large groups of Striped Dolphins on two trips. There were 400-500 animals each time. For children, these jumping dolphins, which also like to accompany our boat, are always a very special experience that makes them cheer and shout with joy.

The excitement and delight in the team increase every year with the news that the Orcas have been sighted in the area. On the 07^th of July we had a joyful reunion. After one year we were curious to see which animals we would meet. The meanwhile big Baby Wilson was there and also Lucia, who is always easy to recognise by her injury behind her dorsal fin. Probably her calf Estrella, now three years old, was also there, enjoying herself with the other juveniles at the back of the boat, in the bubbling water of the motor. At Lucia's side we could observe a new baby, still small and about the size of a Bottlenose Dolphin. The appearance of the large male Camorro with his impressively high dorsal fin always leads to exclamations of astonishment. The group was accompanied by a male still unknown to us, we are still thinking about a name.

The sensational success of this day: 9 Orcas and 3 Fin Whales. The next day there were even 12 Orcas to be seen, swimming back into the Atlantic in a westerly direction, past Tangier, where they can also be found in winter. We are grateful and happy every time they come towards us, as they did on these two days, right up to the fishing boats.