Whilst holidaying in Madeira I collected a number of leaflets of local whale and dolphin trips, as well as being informed of the hotel (TUI) excursions. I settled for Ventura Nature Emotions. I've done many 'family boat trips' so I felt that this one was the best to get me closer to seeing whales. This company is purely focused on searching for cetaceans and had a marine biologist on board that knew species and their behaviours.
Our skipper was told by the inland spotter that a whale was sighted, I felt a bit numb. Out comes Bryde's whale, not one but two, a mother and a calf. I know they are often sighted at this time of year, but it's not guaranteed, as wildlife tends to be. I was hoping to see one during the trip and I got my dream come true. Incredible experience that I’ll never forget. On our trip we also saw spotted dolphins, a 50+ group and a smaller juvenile group, a couple of loggerhead sea turtles and a flying fish.
Excuse the expletives, I was just overwhelmed. A tough task as I had to record and nurse a sea sick Gary. Here's a short video of my first and long awaited experience of seeing a Great Whale! Now I have the taste to see more in the wild... As always, recordings don’t give the experience justice – the Bryde’s whales were closer than it looked.
Video thumbnail by Gary Purdy.
