Sperm whale communication

Today our resident sperm whales were the highlight of our tours. In the morning we encountered two individuals, one that we instantly recognised – an adult female that we call “Orca”. In the afternoon the sperm whales put on an amazing show. First one individual was seen repeatedly lobtailing (slapping its tail on the surface of the water) and from this tail slaps we could identify her as an individual we call “Bear paw”. Soon after a second whale began breaching (leaping entirely out of the water). These types of aerial behaviours are a way for the sperm whales to communicate with each other, as these tails slaps and jumps make a lot of noise that travels far. After a few minutes the two sperm whales joined up and went under so we left them to be together. Throughout the day we also had encounters with common dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins and bottlenose dolphins.

Video of the sperm whale lobtailing:

Photos from today:

Our swimming boat this afternoon with Atlantic spotted dolphins