Our first of three full days at sea found us heading southeast in blustery conditions towards Brazil and the port of Belem. We were over very deep water for the whole of the first day – there is nothing more frustrating as a cetacean enthusiast than a combination of deep water and a lot of white water as the few whales and dolphins which call the deep-sea home are often elusive and difficult to spot at the best of times. This led to a frustrating day in terms of cetacean sightings, but the many thousands of flying fish and a posse of up to 21 MASKED BOOBY accompanying the ship saved the day! Watching these aerial acrobats twisting and plunging after the fish time and time again (to varying degrees of success) was an absolute delight. It is rare that you get the opportunity to study seabird behaviour away from a breeding colony so it was an absolute privilege to be able to watch this group all day and start to understand the subtle changes in body language as the birds were about to dive and try to anticipate them in an attempt to get that elusive diving photograph! There is something so very special about standing eyeball to eyeball with these ocean masters as they glide by with so little effort – you always have to love a seabird that interacts with a ship!
Magnificent Frigatebird
Flying fish
Masked Booby
Masked Booby
Masked Booby
With the hope of shallower water and a better day than yesterday, it was disappointing to find similar weather conditions to hamper viewing on day 2 – at least it was warm on deck! Three MASKED BOOBY were still in attendance early morning, but these soon veered off and we lost our aerial friends. Mid-morning, a lone dolphin frustrating leapt high out of the water once at distance as if about to race in towards the ship – only to never be seen again! It was also incredibly quiet for seabirds with just a handful of MANX SHEARWATER, LEACH’S PETREL and a probable GREAT SHEARWATER seen.
Leach’s Petrel
We finally admitted defeat with the spray after wiping optics down for what felt like the hundredth time and moved to the stern to sit and observe. Our patience was finally rewarded at around 4pm when a small group of five BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN raced into the bow out of nowhere to play. I can’t deny it was a trying and tiring day!
Bottlenose Dolphin
It has to be said that things didn’t really improve in terms of sightings on day 3 either! Weather conditions were still challenging and the introduction of heavy rain showers kept us on our toes. An early sighting of eight BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN hinted at an improved day, but we then had to wait until mid-morning before another small group of three BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN half-heartedly came into the bow. A very heavy rain shower quickly cleared the decks for a time, but not before we had experienced a dramatic and almost instant drop in temperature of around 5 degrees before the rain hit. My second lecture was perfectly timed to make the most of this break in the weather – it’s always a worry that something unusual will appear outside whilst I am presenting and sure enough, this time we missed the only RED-FOOTED BOOBY of the cruise!
Red-footed BoobySargassum seaweed
A difficult three days in terms of wildlife viewing, but the promise of so much more to come as tomorrow we get our first views of the mighty Amazon River! Do come back to read more……
Day 11 saw us back in a similar area as day 6, our whale watchers’ dream day (see Island Hopping in the Tropics – Part 2), but the days could not have been more different in terms of sightings. With a northeasterly force 4, weather conditions were reasonably favourable for picking out cetaceans, but there was very little seen. Even the seabirds seemed to have disappeared with just a handful of large shearwaters and storm petrels seen! We had to wait until 5pm for our first and only cetacean sighting of the day when a very large bull Sperm Whale surfaced close to the ship. He showed well as he re-oxygenated at the surface with the photographs showing him to probably have a twisted spine or bone deformity – maybe a birth deformity? This is something I have seen with large whales in the past and has been recorded in Sperm Whale.
Adult male Sperm Whale with a bone or spinal deformityOne of three Loggerhead Turtles seen throughout the day
The next day saw Braemar docked in Santa Cruz de Tenerife for the day. With blue skies and very little breeze, it seemed like it had been a good decision to escort the official Fred Olsen whale watching excursion – and it certainly was! A small, but excited band of us travelled down to the tourist town of Playa de las americas at the south of the island to board a catamaran for a few hours of whale watching and relaxing on board. We had hardly left port when I picked up the black, shiny fins of a small pod of Short-finned Pilot Whale ahead of us and a scan around revealed a wide-spread group resting at the surface in various locations. We spent time with one group which had two very small calves with them which could only have been a few days old, they were absolutely tiny! We were treated to some amazing close encounters as the animals got used to us and moved around the vessel. It was an absolute treat to share some time with this small family on a vessel whose Captain knew how to responsibly position the vessel to minimise disturbance – unfortunately, the same can not be said about some of the private vessels in the area.
Research in Tenerife suggests that there are as many as 1,000 Short-Finned Pilot Whales which frequent the water off the South West coast of Tenerife. Out of these, it thought that only about half are resident to the area. During the day (especially the morning) they tend to rest at the surface to recuperate from night-time hunting efforts in shallower, warm water so are fairly easy to find.
Short-finned Pilot Whale including a very small calf
It was very much a different trip for us in Lanzarote away from the normal wildlife watching. As a geologist by training, I was keen to see the Timanfaya National Park so Russ and I headed out on the official excursion. The park itself is a vast volcanic landscape that covers a quarter of the island and was created over six years of near-continuous volcanic eruptions that took place between 1730 and 1736 giving an almost alien landscape. Never ones to ignore the wildlife however, we were delighted to find the endemic Bertholot’s Pipit hopping round our feet as we disembarked the coach at our first stop.
A very friendly Bertholot’s Pipit in the car park
After a fantastic demonstration of the power of the Earth, we were taken on a spectacular 50 minute scenic coach trip around the ‘Ruta de los Volcanes’ – the only way you can see the park – before stopping for the obligatory camel ride (we didn’t!) included in the tour.
We decided to take a closer look at the lava field instead which turned out to be a good decision as we found a small flock of Trumpeter Finch feeding on the ground – a new species for me! An awe-inspiring trip which I highly recommend if you ever visit Lanzarote.
Trumpeter FinchThe distinctive Lanzarote Vineyards near Timanfaya National Park
Luckily, we sailed away from Arrecife, Lanzarote at 2pm giving us the whole afternoon over the very nutrient-rich waters of the continental shelf and slope. Whilst passengers were still gathering on the deck following the sail-away party provided by Braemar’s excellent Entertainments Team, we had our first sighting. Alerted by a large flocking of circling and feeding birds, Russ was able to pick out a group of dolphins feeding underneath. As we got closer, more activity was picked up until eventually we were surround by hundreds of Atlantic Spotted Dolphin of which at least 150 animals came in to bow-ride to the delight of the many passengers on deck.
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin – the lack of spots indicating younger animals
Two more groups of at least 30 Atlantic Spotted Dolphin came into bowride over a 15 minute period before a brief lull in proceedings. However, with sea conditions excellent, we anticipated the next sighting wouldn’t be far away. Suddenly, I picked up a blow well out towards the horizon ahead of us followed by surges of water… they were feeding. Because conditions were so calm, we were able to pick out the bodies of the two animals as well as their distinctive swept back dorsal fin as they sounded for a deeper dive whilst they were still well ahead of us thus confirming Fin Whale. Now it was the waiting game to see how long they would dive for and where they were going to pop back up. Our attention was momentarily taken by a small pod of Short-finned Pilot Whale which quietly snuck down the starboard side before a passenger suddenly shouted… the Fin Whale had resurfaced and were still lunge feeding! This time we were able to make out the indicative white jaw line on the right hand side as one animal surged through the water whilst a second lunged on its side feeding, the tail breaking the surface. Lunge feeding like this is very typical for Fin Whale as well as some of the other larger rorqual whales and can be the cause of mistaken identity as the tail can look confusingly like an Orca dorsal fin!
Blow of a Fin WhaleShort-finned Pilot WhaleFin WhaleLunge-feeding Fin Whale with the tail out of the water
Over the next hour, we were treated to 8 more Fin whale, another active pod of at least 50 Atlantic Spotted Dolphin coming in to bowride and around 50 Striped Dolphin who tried to remain quite, but one animal in particular made some enormous leaps out of the water!
A bit of a lull for an hour before a distant group of 4 Risso’s Dolphin tested Russ and I’s identification skills followed by 2 Fin Whale closer to the ship and a smaller rorqual whale which at the time I called as different. Analysis of the photographs has shown it as likely to be Bryde’s (pronounced Bru-dess) Whale although without seeing the three diagnostic longitudinal ridges on the top of the rostrum, we can’t be 100% certain.
Probable Bryde’s Whale
Just as the sky started to turn golden, we were treated to our only beaked whale sighting of the afternoon with two Cuvier’s Beaked Whale surfacing around halfway to the horizon before quickly disappearing back into the depths – beaked whales truly are a frustrating group of whales at times! However, this wasn’t the last sighting at all as just as we were walking back from the bow to finish, our last cast of the day (thanks Richard – that phrase will stick with me forever now!) found us a Fin Whale followed by around 40 Short-beaked Common Dolphin racing in to the ship!
Short-beaked Common Dolphin racing in to the ship in the half-light
A wonderful afternoon capped by a beautiful sunset – 8 species in 4 hours is not a bad record at all!
After the excitement of yesterday, everybody was hoping for another action-packed day of sightings as we continued our journey south towards the island of Sao Vicente, Cape Verde. However, animals proved elusive despite good conditions although a prolonged spell of rain from mid-morning to early afternoon didn’t help matters as it made viewing difficult. Despite this, things got off to a fabulous start when I spotted a fairly large, dark shape roll out in the 1 o’clock direction which, as I called to get everyone onto the sighting, a huge triangular dorsal fin broke the surface – Orca! Distant, but unmistakable. Always high on everyone’s wish list, this tight group of 5 animals showed well, although remaining distant, before doing the typical Orca disappearing act and diving deep. Actually the largest of the oceanic dolphin family, identifying Orca isn’t as easy as you would think as there are now acknowledged to be 10 different types across the globe. The animals we sighted are likely to be the Eastern North Atlantic ‘Type 2’ variety which grow to approximately 8.5 metres and generally have an eye patch which slants backwards (which certainly seems to be the case with one of the individuals photographed). Type 2 Orca diets are suggested to be highly specialized to other cetaceans.
Orca – the slightly slanted white eye patch indicates these are likely to be Eastern North Atlantic ‘Type 2’ OrcaThere were 5 Orca in the group
A lack of sightings throughout the morning and persistent rain meant that many passengers drifted away from the decks for a leisurely lunch, but soon reappeared once things had dried up. We had been discussing a wishlist of sightings during the quiet morning and one very keen passenger had said she would love to see a Sperm Whale as she’d missed the one on approach to La Palma. Just as it stopped raining, she suddenly spotted a blow…. and again! Self-found Sperm Whale – well done Judith! Although once again distant, the 3 adults and one calf remained on the surface for some time and all passengers on deck were able to get good views of them as the calf spy-hopped and splashed around whilst the females were re-oxygenating on the surface.
A pod of 4 Sperm Whale spotted by a delighted Judith
Whereas yesterday had been very much about cetaceans, the afternoon of 22nd was very much about seabirds and we were treated to some excellent views of various petrels and shearwaters feeding close around the ship including the best views of Macaronesian Shearwater Russ and I have ever had as well as a wonderful view of a White-faced Storm Petrel bouncing distinctly over the sea as if on a pogo stick.
Cory’s Shearwater
Great Shearwater
Cape Verde Shearwater
Macaronesian Shearwater
Macaronesian Shearwater
Moulting Leach’s Storm Petrel
Leach’s Storm Petrel
Leach’s Storm Petrel
Maderian Storm Petrel
White-faced Storm Petrel
White-faced Storm Petrel
No turtles were recorded, but at least 3 sharks slipped down the sides of the ship, of which two were confirmed as Hammerhead Shark (exact species unknown).
Hammerhead Shark species
Friday 23rd November saw Braemar docked in the town of Mindelo on the island of Sao Vicente, Cape Verde – a place I last visited in 2009!
Statue in Mindelo marina
We decided to spent some time investigating the beach and some scrubland for birds before utilising time on the ship to catch up with notes and edit some of the many photographs taken so far. We very quickly spotted the beautiful little Iago Sparrow which is endemic to Cape Verde and soon after a Collared Dove which flicked up into a tree – having been none here in 2008 or 2009, I wasn’t surprised to see them as we’d brought one in on Swan Hellenic’s MV Minerva last time I was here!
Iago Sparrow male (behind), female (front)
Along the beach, we picked up Whimbrel and four Kentish Plover feeding along the shoreline and then found a good-sized flock of Iago Sparrow in the scrub. Hundreds of Cape Verde Swift were also feeding distantly over the sewage works, but we weren’t able to get closer for a better look.
Whimbrel on the shoreline in MindeloKentish Plover
Saturday 24th November found us heading to the island of Santiago and the capital of Cape Verde, Praia. It was uncharacteristically windy during our visit to the islands so we decided to take a trip into the city and do some sightseeing rather than head out birdwatching. However, whilst the ship was manoeuvering to dock, two or three Brown Booby were seen feeding in the Bay – Santiago is the only place they nest in Cape Verde so we had been hopeful to see them.
Fairly distant Brown Booby over the bay
A scan of the distant cliffs to the east of Praia and we were able to pick up very distant views of Red-billed Tropicbird – sadly, too far for a photograph that doesn’t look like a smudge on the page! After heading into the city, we happened to bump into some of the guests on the city walking tour who were very excited to show us photographs of the bird they had just seen wanting to know what it was – Grey-headed Kingfisher in the palace gardens! We quickly dashed in that direction and there was no sign of the bird anywhere! After a fruitless search, we decided to head back to the vegetable market for a look. There we got talking to a very friendly young Cape Verdean fisherman called Victor who offered to take us to the local market for a tour. This huge, maze-like covered market gave us a great insight into the vibrant local life in the city and we were delighted to have been able to visit and have a personal tour – somthing we would not have thought of doing ourselves. After this, a walk back towards the bus stop and we bumped into Richard who has been keeping us company on deck and helping spot animals with his sharp eyes – he’d just seen the kingfisher! This time success – this stunning kingfisher was sitting on a wire posing beautifully although we’d left the camera on the ship! Thank you Richard for kindly allowing me to use your photographs – much appreciated.
Grey-headed Kingfisher in the Palace gardens – photo courtesy of Richard Davison (thank you!)
If 21st November was a whale watcher’s dream, 25th was definitely a whale watcher’s nightmare! A difficult sea state with lots of white water meant a frustrating day with very few sightings. We did have the best view of a beaked whale so far, but both cameras chose that moment to play up so we weren’t able to get any images. My gut reaction was it was a Blainville’s Beaked Whale, but with no images to prove it either way, this has to go down as an unidentified beaked whale. Two dolphin sightings was the sum total throughout the day, both from the stern of the ship with the second group identified as Atlantic Spotted Dolphin from photographs. What a frustrating day!
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin – one of only two dolphin sightings today
After leaving Madeira in the falling light, we woke the following morning to find La Palma just in sight on the horizon and calm sea conditions. However, despite the excellent viewing conditions, we recorded just one Sperm Whale which surfaced reasonably close off the port side and was still blowing gently as we lost sight of it behind us. Seabirds also appeared to be few and far between with a handful of Cory’s Shearwater, two Great Shearwater and two Madeiran Storm Petrels recorded.
Sperm Whale
On arrival in a very warm and sunny Santa Cruz de La Palma, Russ and I decided to explore the hills around the town as there was apparently a circular walk to follow which would take us along the coast and then up behind the caldera and back into town. This didn’t quite go according to plan due to a lack of signposts, but we had a very enjoyable few hours walking up through banana plantations in to the foothills. The sound of Canary Lizards scuttling through the undergrowth filled the air along with the repetitive calls of Canary Islands Chiffchaff, a species endemic to the islands.
Canary LizardCanary Islands Chiffchaff
Progress was slowed considerably due to clouds of African Grass Blue butterflies and various dragonflies to divert our attention.
African Grass Blue
Bath White (underside)
African Grass Blue (underside)
Red-veined Darter
Scarlet Darter
Epaulet Skimmer
We were delighted to pick up a pair of Red-billed Chough calling overhead, a species which within Macaronesia breeds exclusively on La Palma. Estimated numbers sit at around 2,800 birds, so the island boasts one of the highest population densities of this species in the Western Palearctic: approximately 4 individuals per square kilometre. There seems to be some dispute amongst ornithologists whether they constitute a separate subspecies or not.
Red-billed Chough soaring overhead
On the way back down to the town, I suddenly spotted a Canary Gecko which was sunning itself on an old wooden bridge. It ran from sight before Russ had chance to see it, and despite waiting several minutes, failed to reappear.
Rock Crab
All to soon, it was time to board Braemar in preparation of an evening departure. The Captain’s announcement gave a hint of good weather the next day so we retired for the evening hoping for an excellent day at sea.
We arrived on deck the following morning at sunrise and were greeted with a mirror calm sea and a low swell – a whale watchers dream come true! We certainly didn’t have to wait long either as no sooner had we arrived than a big group of around 150 Atlantic Spotted Dolphin charged into the bow to greet us. We hadn’t even had time to set cameras up! This was followed a few minutes later by another smaller group which stayed around 500m off before another 15 Atlantic Spotted Dolphin raced in to bowride. I already had the feeling it was going to be a good day and I wasn’t disappointed!
Distant Atlantic Spotted Dolphin
After a brief lull to catch our breath, I spotted a small, dark animal roll quietly at about 1 o’clock (we use the clock face to get passengers on to sightings), a beaked whale? It rolled again showing a squarish head, followed by a second animal and then a third. At this point, with the blood racing, I knew this was something different that I hadn’t seen before. A Kogia species – either Pygmy or Dwarf Sperm Whale! Dastardly things to identify at sea as they are so rarely seen and when they are, they rarely show much at all, so Russ and I rattled off as many photographs as we could whilst trying to ensure all the passengers saw these enigmatic little cetaceans. Later analysis of the images showed crucial features of a short, straight back and relatively large, fairly erect dorsal fin which help distinguish these animals as Dwarf Sperm Whale. Species number 37 for me in my quest to see all the cetacean species in the World, fantastic!
The Elusive Dwarf Sperm Whale
No rest for those of us on deck however, as almost immediately a very sleepy pod of Risso’s Dolphin slipped down the starboard side barely showing as they snuck by. A shout from the top deck from one of our eagle-eye and very enthusiastic passengers (thank you Richard!) had us scanning the seas until he shouted again for us to look up just as an immature Red-footed Booby drifted low over our heads! This rare and magnificent seabird delighted us all for at least 15 minutes with close flybys until it drifted off to starboard, attempted a dive and then continued back out to sea. The smallest of the Booby family, this species is infrequently seen in the eastern Atlantic with 4 individuals recorded in 2018 (including this bird).
Immature Red-footed Booby
A large group of around 150 dolphins mid-morning kept us on our toes as they kept their distance and were silhouetted by the sun making identification difficult. Photo-identification in the evening showed them to be the only group of Pan-tropical Spotted Dolphin seen throughout the day. However, a ripple of excitement around the deck indicated that our next sighting wasn’t going to be quite so frustrating. A tall, diffuse blow, followed by a long, straight back and large, erect dorsal fin surging through the water could be only one thing, Sei Whale! This group of four whales seemingly working together as they fed, were in view for at least 10 minutes as they passed close down the port side delighting passengers with their display.
Feeding Sei Whale
We picked up two groups of beaked whales which proved challenging to identify. After watching the second group of four animals for several minutes as we closed on them, we were finally able to identify them as Cuvier’s Beaked Whale, but the first animals remained elusive. Having missed breakfast due to not wanting to leave the deck, Russ and I decided to take a quick break hoping we wouldn’t miss anything….. we did! Passengers were delighted to tell us about the close pod of whales in front of the ship just minutes before we got back! A photograph showed them to be small, ‘mesoplodont’-type beaked whales (likely Sowerby’s, True’s or Gervais Beaked Whale), but sadly didn’t show the needed beak/head shot to clinch the identity…. the ones that got away!
Things quietened down slightly in the afternoon, but we still recorded another single Cuvier’s Beaked Whale as well as 4 distant, but active groups of Striped Dolphin. However, they left their best display to the end as we had a superbly active group of around 40 Striped Dolphin race into the bow in the early evening. Striped Dolphin won’t always bow-ride, but when they do it is something you don’t want to miss, what a sight!
Leaping Striped Dolphin
Throughout the day, we had a steady stream of Loggerhead Turtle swimming past the ship – as it was so calm, many were distant, but several passengers happily spotted their own turtles along with Flying Fish and had great fun trying to get each other on to them. Bird-wise, we were kept busy with many Cory’s and Great Shearwater, Madeiran and Leach’s Storm Petrel and reasonable views of a Fea’s/Zino’s Petrel.
Loggerhead Turtle
Flying Fish
What a day! It really was one of those days that whale watchers can only dream of and certainly one of the best days at sea I’ve had in 15 years!
Wildlife, Wild Sea.... 