Eight different species of cetaceans were sighted, including dolphins, killer whales and whales, on the maritime touristic Dream Wave tours along the Algarve coast, throughout 2016. The company took stock of the species it came across this year, in which there were « high percentage of successful observations', not only of cetaceans, but also of turtles and other animals.
In the many trips he made, since whale watching is an activity «which has grown significantly in recent years», the species most often sighted were the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) . But it was also possible to see, in some outings, common dolphins (Phocoena phocoena), although this species is “difficult to observe due to its shyness”, as well as killer whales (Orcinus orca).
Other species that were sighted on the Dream Wave marine tours were the Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus), the Sardinian Whale (Balaenoptera borealis) and the Dwarf Whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata).
A positive balance, in the view of the maritime-tourism company, but that does not prevent Dream Wave from making an appeal for greater care for the environment, as it is frequent, they assure, «to find debris and garbage of human origin».
«Cetaceans, turtles and sea birds are among the animals most affected by ocean pollution. During the season, a leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), caught in a drift fishing gear, which had difficulty coming to the surface to breathe, was rescued. In this sense, as much as possible, the crews on board the vessels try to fulfill their civic role and collect most of this garbage”, they revealed.
See images of some of Dream Wave's encounters with inhabitants of the Algarve seas:
Photos: dream wave
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