Tag Archives: Dolphins or Wales

Atlantic Ocean Wildlife

We did again encounter bottlenose dolphins (Tümmler) – a school of thirty or more followed us for half an hour.  Only few species of birds visit the sailor on the open ocean, a hundred miles or more away from land. One of those are Cory’s Shearwater (Puffinus diomedea, Sepiasturmtaucher). They breed on land, but live on the ocean. As in North France, Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus, Basstölpel) occasionally showed up. By the way, it was a brilliant passage from Rabat, Morocco to the Canary Islands. Good winds, moderate atlantic swell and four dark nights without moon, but with a clear sky and the milky way.dolphin-7968-3

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Cory’s Shearwater (Puffinus diomedea, Sepiasturmtaucher):Sepiasturmtaucher-8342

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Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus, Basstölpel):basstölpel-8195basstölpel-8203

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A School of Twenty

Pilot whales are highly social and swim in groups of twenty and more if there is enough  squid or fish. Most dives are to a depth of 30–60 m, but they may dive 600 meters. The whitish calfs nurses for three years. The “playful” clapping of the caudal fin, is it to scare prey?  

More than 17 species of whale and dolphin, including the humpback whale, which breeds here, may be watched in Cape Verde.