orca wildlife report - orcaweb.org.uk · monday, 06.01.2020: day at sea the upper decks remained...

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ORCA Wildlife Report

Tales of the Caribbean - SAGA Sapphire

5th January 2020 – 7th February 2020

Your ORCA Wildlife Guides:

L – R: Charlotte Kirchner (Wildlife Officer), Terry Carne, Andy Gilbert (Team Leader) and Jan Storie.


Sunday, 05.01.2020: Southampton, United Kingdom

The ORCA team met at the cruise terminal in Southampton for the first time, to embark on a month-long journey

together. After settling in our cabins, our Team Leader Andy gave us a short tour around the ship and promptly was

recognised and welcomed by passengers that he had met on previous cruises with SAGA. After a fantastic dinner, we

settled early, to start whale watching in the morning.

Monday, 06.01.2020: Day at Sea

The upper decks remained closed for the day due to rough seas and wind. Our team improvised by setting up for

surveying at deck 9 starboard for the morning, where we spotted a small pod of pilot whales - a great first sighting on

this incredible voyage!

After lunch, our Wildlife Officer Charlotte gave a presentation on the whales, dolphins and other wildlife we were

hoping to see on our journey to the Caribbean in the Britannia Lounge. The remaining day was used to observe wildlife

on the port side of deck 9.

Tuesday, 07.01.2020: Day at Sea

Sightings today increased by 150% to the previous day, as we managed to spot not only short-beaked common

dolphins (Delphinus delphis), just like the day before, but additionally spotted two other cetaceans!

The larger whale, which was sighted blowing (exhaling) and rolling through the water, might have been a large rorqual,

that we could not identify closer. The second one was a medium-sized cetacean, too big for a dolphin, breaching out

of the water twice, leaving us guessing what it might have been.

We had to leave the sundeck early, to get ready for the Captain’s cocktail party!

Wednesday, 08.01.2020: Day at Sea

We had a fantastic morning sailing past Cabo São Vincente, the South-Westernmost point of the European continent.

Calm seas promised ideal whale watching conditions! During the early hours, we were able to spot several pods of

dolphins, out of which a dozen individuals were identified as short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis). One

of the pods was particularly easy to spot, as they were feeding below a large group of kittiwakes.

Just before lunchtime, we were lucky enough to spot one of the elusive, deep-diving beaked whales. We were unable

to identify the species but managed to get a couple of wonderful pictures. Around teatime, after a very calm afternoon

with little sightings (some might believe that the crew drill might have scared off the animals), the ORCA team spotted

a large rorqual whale, possibly a juvenile fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) just a couple of hundred meters away


from the SAGA Sapphire! Many passengers joined us on deck 12 today and shared their wonderful wildlife experiences

with us and helped us to spot cetaceans!

Beaked whale

Thursday, 09.01.2020: Funchal, Madeira

This morning the SAGA Sapphire docked at the wonderful island of Madeira. While passengers headed out on

excursions, the ORCA team had a wonderful morning on the island, exploring the fantastic fauna of Funchal. Besides

a myriad of island canaries, we were able to spot a female endemic Madeiran wall lizard.

Island canary Female Madeiran wall l izard


Back on board, many passengers joined us on the sundeck for the sail away. More than 50 dolphins, most of them

short-beaked common dolphins, were escorting us out on the sea, while Madeira, covered in clouds and rainbows,

slowly disappeared behind us.

Friday, 10.01.2020: Day at Sea

After spending the morning with anticipation, it was not one of the ORCA team, but a passenger to spot the first whale

of the day! What a sight: An enormous splash up on the horizon, that got larger as we started getting closer. The large

white pectoral fins of the acrobatic whale made us identify it as a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae).

Later on, the team’s lunch came to an abrupt end, when a passenger came down to report she had seen large, tall

blows at the horizon. Jan was able to spot out and record them, but we couldn’t identify the species of what must

have been a large rorqual whale. Half an hour before our watch ended, we were surprised by yet another breaching

whale. We could identify it as a minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) from a picture taken by our surveyor Terry,

that clearly showed the characteristic white armbands.

Saturday, 11.01.2020: Day at Sea

Already before breakfast, the ORCA team was surprised by the wonderful sight of a sperm whale (Physeter

macrocephalus) – a first ever sighting of this species for two of our four surveyors! And the day continued to be full of

surprises. In the morning a fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) was surfacing alarmingly close to the Sapphire.

Fortunately, the whale managed to turn around in the last second and gave some impressive views for passengers,

crew and our team!

Surfacing fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) c lose to the Sapphire.


As the day went on, the ORCA team, plus their new friend, Rustie Lee, spotted another fin whale, a minke whale

(Balaenoptera acutorostrata) and a Leach’s petrel – it does pay off maximising deck watch time after all! Later in the

day, we spotted a whale in the distance that was most likely a sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis), a close cousin of both

fin and minke whale. A fabulous day in the middle of the Atlantic, which ended in a sparkling evening at the second

formal night!

Sunday, 12.01.2020: Day at Sea

The wildlife today was rather winged and sparse. While the ORCA Wildlife Guides spent the whole day out on the deck,

the whales just didn’t seem to show up. Passenger Ann spotted the first bird sighting of the day, a great shearwater

in the early morning hours! We sighted a couple more of these birds over the course of the day. Passengers spotted

the first flying fish of our crossing from the Verandah deck and more kept coming in over the afternoon.

The highlight of the day, that made it into the Captain's daily announcement was a catamaran, that was spotted around

mid-day. It was the first sign of human life on the Atlantic since we departed from Madeira!

Catamaran spotted at around 23.42 South and -36.54 East.



We spotted a very small turtle hiding underneath a clump of seaweed but it didn’t show itself enough to identify the

exact species. On the same day a very colourful fish, about the size of a small-medium shark, was briefly seen from the

starboard side and subsequently identified as a definite fish rather than a shark. This green and yellow mahi-mahi is

sometimes referred to as a dolphin fish in the Caribbean.

As we were approaching the Caribbean, we have also seen a number of pieces of loose fishing nets that are referred

to as “ghost gear” and sadly these items cause huge issues for marine life as they indiscriminately entangle and kill

both fish, marine mammals, and sea birds. It is estimated that around 300,000 marine mammals die from

entanglement and bycatch in fishing gear annually.


In the afternoon the team was surveying from deck 9 and we were surprised by a huge splash which turned out to be

a sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) coming from a deep dive and breaching half of its body above the surface!

Incredible! Sperm whales dive to a maximum of 2,000 meters and feed on deep water squid.

Breaching sperm whale.


Perhaps the strangest sighting of the cruise was the flying squid that we saw this afternoon amongst the flying fish.

These cephalopods squirt water out to propel themselves out of the water reaching speeds of 11.2 m/s – faster than

Usain Bolt’s top speed of 10.31 m/s!

Flying squid


The last few days were fairly sparse with regards to marine mammals and sea birds, as we were crossing over the very

deep ocean (more than 5,000m deep at times) and as the sea was choppy, it was difficult to spot far away animals.

This deviated our attention to the fabulous flying fish that can be easily seen from the sides of the ship, racing through

the air as they escape from our path. Around 60 species inhabit tropical and subtropical waters worldwide and ten of

them can be found in the waters our route is taking us.

At noon the captain announced that there was a nearby catamaran. The sailors had started their transatlantic crossing

from the African coast before New Year’s and after more than a fortnight had passed, we were the first people they

got in contact with. Naturally we deviated our course to say hello to them.


Flying f ish

Transatlantic adventurers on board the catamaran.

Thursday, 16.01.2020: Saint John’s, Antigua & Barbuda

After one transatlantic crossing and six days on sea, we were finally approaching the island of Antigua, our first stop

in the Caribbean!

The ORCA team set up for watching before coming into the harbour and a variety of different seabirds were spotted.

Even some of the enigmatic magnificent frigatebirds were following our ship, while we were approaching the harbour.


Ready for some Caribbean wildlife, the ORCA team went on a photo walk to explore the local fauna, while passengers

set off to explore the island.

Magnificent frigatebird (Fregata magnificans).

Friday, 17.01.2020: Philipsburg, St. Maarten

Another island, another chance to go birding! The team set off to the hillside near the Philipsburg harbour and

successfully spotted some raptors. As we continued on towards the salt pans, we spotted some large green iguanas,

sitting in the trees. These large reptiles can be found all over the Caribbean and after Hurricanes occasionally get

caught on uprooted trees, that will raft them to new islands.

Green iguana


Saturday, 18.01.2020: Road Town, Tortola

During our fabulous breakfast in a local café, we spotted lots and lots of different anole lizards of all sizes on the fence.

Similar lizards of the same genus can be found in over 400 species all over Central America! Our next stop was the

Botanical Gardens which may not have yielded so many birds but were home to even more reptiles.

Anole l izards use their colourful dewlap to attract mates.

Sunday, 19.01.2020: Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis

The quest of exploring St. Kitts was facilitated by our welcoming and knowledgeable taxi driver, who was more of a

tour guide. On our way to Fort George, he pointed out various landmarks and points of interest to the ORCA team,

including some interesting wildlife. We stopped at a roadside tree, that from afar seemed to be in blossom. However,

the large white blossoms turned out to be something very different: A roost of cattle egrets!

Communal roost trees of cattle egrets, l ike th is one, can be found all over the West Indies.


Unfortunately, the visit to the island was cut short because of the bad weather. The ship called all passengers back in

the early afternoon and we sailed early for Guadeloupe.

Monday, 20.01.2020: Pointe-á-Pitre, Guadeloupe

The ORCA team packed their snorkelling gear and underwater cameras to explore the underwater life of Guadeloupe

and headed towards Îlet du Gosier, a tiny islet close to the nearest beach. The former coral reef around the island was

unfortunately no longer alive, and the only reminders of the former beauty were broken off, white branches of coral

skeletons.

However, we were able to spot out some other interesting Caribbean wildlife while exploring the islet: Caribbean land

hermits!

Caribbean land hermit crab

Former coral reefs were around Îlet de Gosier are

overgrown by seagrass and inhabited by sea urchins,

l ike this West Indian sea egg.

Tuesday, 21.01.2020: Castries, St. Lucia

Coming into St. Lucia might have been one of the most memorable wildlife experiences of many passengers on this

cruise. Shortly after we set up for sampling, we noticed first two, later up to a dozen brown boobies flying along with

the ship – and they were not doing this for pure joie de vivre! These close relatives of the northern gannets were using

the ship’s pressure wave for their advantage. The boobies were spotting out flying fish, that were startled by our ship

and caught them straight out of the air! What a fabulous sighting, that could have been straight out of a documentary!


Brown booby

Besides the amazing avian fauna, morning and evening deck watches throughout the Caribbean failed to deliver

cetacean sightings up to this point, so the ORCA pod was excited to join today’s whale watching excursion!

We set off on board the Free Willy joined by a group of enthusiastic passengers to our three-hour excursion looking

out for whales and dolphins. After a scenic cruise to the southwestern tip of the island, we finally found them: A pod

of around 50 pantropical spotted dolphins mixed with a few spinner dolphins. Too many to focus on a single dolphin

and showing all kinds of acrobatic behaviour! The trip clearly paid off for all participants!


Pantropical spotted dolphins

Wednesday, 22.01.2020: St. George’s, Grenada

The docking in Grenada will certainly be one that Captain Horne will never forget, setting a new island record for

largest ship to have ever docked in St. George’s Inner Harbour!

Our quest for finding wildlife was quickly deviated to the water when we spotted a vast amount of different fish that

made the whole harbour seem like a giant fish tank!

Atlantic sergeant major Atlantic needlef ish

While Jan explored the vibrant markets of the spice island, Terry and Charlotte got on a public minibus to the Grand

Etang, where they spotted one of the Mona monkeys, that have been introduced to the island by early settlers.


Mona monkeys are not indigenous but were brought to Grenada on board of slave ships in the 18 t h century.

Thursday, 23.01.2020: Admiralty Bay, Bequia

After a scenic tender approach to the island, Andy, Jan and Terry hopped on a taxi to the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary in

the east coast of the island. Orton King created this sanctuary to save turtles. He hatches them and cares for them

until they are three years old and then releases them into the wild, to give them a better chance of survival. Since

starting his work, Mr. King has released 2000 three-year olds.

Hawksbil l seaturtles in the Old Hegg Turtle sanctuary.


On the other side of the island our Wildlife Officer Charlotte packed her snorkelling gear and headed to Princess

Margret Beach to explore the underwater realm of Bequia, where she explored a fantastic diversity of small reef fish

and other marine life.

Brain coral with Caribbean Christmas tree worm Smooth trunkf ish

Friday, 24.01.2020: Fort-de-France, Martinique

P&O Cruises Britannia next to the SAGA Sapphire


The ORCA team took a small ferry to Les Trois-Ilets on the other side of the bay and stumbled over the ruins of the fort

of Pointe du Bout, which was first mentioned in 1746. Since, parts had been reworked (including an old open-air

cinema), but nowadays the fort looks like a lost place, that has been reclaimed by nature.

Saturday, 25.01.2020: Bridgetown, Barbados

While some of the ORCA team stayed on board, Jan and Terry visited one of the natural wonders of Barbados: The

Queen’s Park Baobab. This 26m (91ft) tall and 25m (81ft) circumference tree arrived on Barbados from Africa on an

ocean current about 1000AD, long before the first ships crossed the Atlantic! It rooted on the Barbados shore and as

the island rose continuously out of the sea and water retreated from around the city, the Baobab ended up in the city

centre of Bridgetown.


The old Baobab in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Sunday, 26.01.2020: Day at Sea

After leaving the Caribbean and with seven sea days ahead of us, the ORCA team finally resumed their normal routine

of deck watches – and what a great start we had!

Before breakfast, we had already spotted a pair of sperm whales, which we identified by their angled blows (sperm

whales belong to the toothed whales (Odontoceti) and only possess one blowhole, which is situated on the left side

of their head). They were joined by a couple of close-by sei whales, that we were able to observe closely, as they

stayed with us for a while.

While half of the team was having breakfast, a pod of seven large dark dolphins made their way along the starboard

side of the Sapphire. We could later identify them as false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) from pictures taken

during the encounter. Just like killer whales and pilot whales, these rare animals belong to the blackfish and are, for a

matter of fact large dolphins and not whales. The last cetacean sighting of the day was a mother and calf sei whale

shortly after midday.


False kil ler whale (Pseudorca crassidens)

Other highlights were the sightings of both species of tropicbirds (red-billed and white-tailed) as well as a juvenile

masked booby, that was hunting for flying fish next to the ship.


Another busy day of jaw-dropping wildlife encounters for the ORCA surveyor team which were shared with many

passengers! The first whale (a large and dark baleen whale with a large blow) of the day was spotted by passenger

Pete, while the ORCA team were having breakfast.

Highlights of the day included a handful of minke whales, some very close to the ship, others breaching out of the

water, a sei whale in the morning, a close unidentified beaked whale, sperm whales in the afternoon and a pod of

unidentified dolphins in the distance.


Minke whale surfacing next to the SAGA Sapphire.

We are truly grateful for all the eyes out on deck that help us spotting the animals and are contributing to our survey,

without them we wouldn’t have been able to spot a lot of the wildlife!


Around midday, we discovered our sighting of the day: a group of around a dozen of sperm whales, logging and spy-

hopping in the water. Many passengers followed the announcement of the bridge and came up to the sundeck to

observe this group of large whales with us, which appeared to be a nursery pod. Sperm whale nurseries usually consist

of around ten females with their young and can be stable over decades. Whereas adult male sperm whales are usually

seen solitary, female sperm whales are always accompanied by other females and rely on one another to raise their

offspring, find food and defend themselves against predators. In the North Atlantic, nursery groups are usually

matrilineal and are closely related.

In the afternoon, our ORCA mascot participated in the boat building challenge as the galleon figure of the Ivana Cadiz

under captain Helen.


Other cetacean sightings of the day included: A breaching whale, that was seen by passengers while the ORCA team

observed the sperm whales, a beaked whale, two sei whales (Balaenoptera borealis), two solitary sperm whales and

a group of eight dolphins.

Sperm whale nursery.


After three sea days with perfect weather conditions, the sea slightly picked up today and white caps on the waves

made surveying more challenging. In the night we had passed half of the journey from Barbados to Tenerife. The ocean

seemed empty for most of the day, fewer flying fish crossing our path. Nevertheless, we spotted distant blows of two

sperm whales in the morning and passed several seabirds over the day, one of which we could identify as a Leach’s

petrel.

Thursday, 30.01.2020: Day at Sea

The ocean seemed deserted today and the whales seemed to avoid the ORCA team. Passengers Pete, John and Terry

were able to spot some blows and breaches, which we could note down as incidental sightings, however, none of the


three sightings could be identified. During our whole surveying period, not a single bird was sighted. We spotted the

possibly last two flying fish of our journey as we are slowly making our way into colder waters.

Friday, 31/01/2020: Day at Sea

Dusty skies and hot winds: On the Canary Islands, this weather is called Calima and describes a sandstorm coming

towards the archipelago from the Sahara Desert. The Calima that had been influencing Tenerife since Wednesday was

noticeable today out on deck, as the dust decreased visibility towards the horizon and made the sky look yellow. For

the ocean, this kind of sediment influx is very important, as it carries micronutrients like iron, which is essential for

phytoplankton growth.

Our team had another calm day as sightings did not show up before midday. Before lunch, we spotted a minke whale

at about 300m from the ship. Unfortunately, we only got a glimpse on it, as it was heading away from the Sapphire

and went for a dive.

As we are approaching the continent, we are spotting increasing signs of human life, such as ghost nets (lost fishing

gear) and rubbish like metal tins.

Minke whale, heading away from the ship.


Saturday, 01.02.2020: Day at Sea (Canary Islands)

By noon the first outlines of lands could be seen from the sundeck. Shortly before approaching El Hierro, the smallest

island of the archipelago, we spotted a group of socialising sperm whales, blowing and splashing in the water.

Passengers later told us, that they had seen dolphins around the same time at the stern.

Group of socia lizing sperm whales

While we made our way through the islands, slowly approaching Santa Cruz, we could make out all four of the western

Canary Islands, first El Hierro, later La Gomera and Tenerife. Even La Palma was visible in the distance.

Between El Hierro and Tenerife the SAGA Sapphire was approached by several pods of several dozens of acrobatic

Atlantic spotted dolphins, that were attracted by the ship and seemed to put a show on for passenger Alison’s

birthday! We could see them breaching and swimming energetically in the clear water.

Later we spotted two rare beaked whales (Mesoplodon sp.), one larger and one smaller individual, that were tail

slapping on the port side. Our Super Saturday ended with three sperm whales, disappearing in the fading sunlight.

This day in the Canary waters was our most successful day on the Tales of the Caribbean cruise so far.


Three of over 80 energetic Atlantic spotted dolphins we saw.

Supplement:

Several guests were up on deck on with us this afternoon as we sailed between La Gomera and Tenerife and will have

watched two beaked whales surfacing next to the bow of the ship with some very frantic tail slapping. Photo

identification has confirmed that these were Gervais’ beaked whales (Mesoplodon europaeus). This is a very exciting

sighting for the ORCA team as this is the first confirmed recording of this elusive species on an ORCA survey. The

species is not commonly recorded on this side of the Atlantic and more frequently seen on the western side of the

ocean. We are overjoyed to have had the privilege to see these animals and can’t thank SAGA enough for enabling

our work and allowing us to contribute this important sighting to the scientific data for this region and species.


Gervais’ beaked whales (Mesoplodon europaeus)

Sunday, 02.02.2020: Santa Cruz, Tenerife

While passengers headed off to excursions on the island or to explore Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the ORCA team’s day

on shore turned into a busman’s holiday. The team went whale watching on the west coast of the island of Tenerife,

where the Teno – Rasca Special Area of Conservation is protecting the critical habitat for both resident and migrating

cetaceans.

During our two-hour whale watching trip, we spotted a mixed pod of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and

Atlantic spotted dolphins feeding together with gulls on a bait ball of fish close to the coast! Our trip then took us

under the cliffs of Los Gigantes. On our way back to the ship, we drove by the Las Cañadas caldera and got a nice view


on the tip of Spain’s highest mountain, the Pico del Teide, where our team was able to spot a Berthelot’s pipit, which

is endemic to Macaronesia.

Bottlenose dolphin Canary is land pines in front of Mount Teide (3718m)

During our sail away from Santa Cruz, we were lucky enough to pass a pod of over a dozen of short-finned pilot whales

(Globicephala macrorhynchus), that reside in the waters around the canaries. Many passengers were able to spot the

animals, that were slowly swimming by. While we were slowly sailing out in the sunset, dolphins were breaching in

the distance, as if to wave us goodbye.


Our first day at sea after Tenerife turned out to be another interesting one. It was a slow start, but we did pick up a

number of small schools of tuna. The ones that we saw leap out of the water were pretty small individuals and likely

to have been the smaller Skipjack species or even juvenile Yellowfin tuna.

Later in the morning, a small loggerhead turtle was seen swimming at the bow of the ship. Whilst the ORCA team

were having lunch, they were called back to deck 12 by kind guests who had seen a large whale off the bow. A short

while after that a whale started breaching out towards the horizon and making a huge splash. Despite the distance,

we were able to determine, by the size of the animal and the white colouration on its right jaw, that this was a massive

fin whale; only beaten by the blue whale in size.

During the afternoon the tuna action continued and at one stage gannets, dolphins, and even a large fish (possibly

small shark or billfish) took part in the feeding. Overall, we counted 44 common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), but they

were very spread out in small groups and chasing food, none really stayed around the ship long enough for a prolonged

look.


Perhaps the most uplifting sighting of the day (considering we are heading back to the UK for the end of winter) was

that harbinger of spring – the swallow. One was seen above the bow of the ship, heading north off the coast of

Morocco. Springtime in Northern Europe is definitely on its way!


This day along the Portuguese coast turned out better than we could have ever imagined!

In the morning, the crew notified us they had seen 30 – 50 dolphins at the stern before sunrise, however, these were

certainly not the last dolphins we saw that day. Over the course of the day, we saw 4 different species of dolphins, all

of them very close to the ship. A total of more than 50 striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) was counted, making

it the fourth species of the genus Stenella during our journey. Furthermore, we spotted a pod of Risso’s dolphins

(Grampus griseus). These large, battle-scarred dolphins are born dark and will appear almost white with age, because

of the rake marks that cover their bodies. In the afternoon we spotted a pod of common dolphins (Delphinus delphis)

that was attracted by the ship and mixed with two bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) that surfaced 30 meters

from our port side.

Risso ’s dolphin

Our highlight of the day, however, happened around 11 am when we spotted a very large blow, just 200m off the ship.

Our surveyors rushed over to see a huge animal surfacing in the heavy swell. It was just too wide and to light coloured

to be a fin whale. The pictures verified our hopes and dreams: BLUE WHALE! It was the first blue whale (Balaenoptera

musculus) for Jan, Terry and Charlotte that were on deck when the animal surfaced and we were able to share it with

a few of the regular passengers that join us. What a day to remember!


Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus)


The weather picked up when we passed Cap Finistère and entered the final leg of the voyage: crossing the Bay of

Biscay.

The Bay of Biscay is one of the top 5 whale watching regions in the world, with as many as 13 species recorded on a

single crossing. It is also one of the focal regions of ORCA’s work. With data from previous surveys, we were able to

define a focal area of special interest for the elusive Cuvier’s beaked whales, the deepest diving mammal on earth.

However, due to the weather conditions, we were not able to spot many animals during this crossing.

During the fifth and final formal night, Captain Horne thanked our team for the work we had been doing during this

cruise. The survey data we recorded during our journey will be used to directly contribute to conserving whales and

dolphins in their natural environment.

Thursday, 06.02.2020: Day at Sea

We crossed the continental shelf edge of the Bay of Biscay in the morning hours before sunlight. The team tried to

fight the strong winds on the upper deck but was eventually forced to retreat to the Verandah when all decks were


closed because of the weather conditions. During the whole morning out, we only managed to spot three small pods

of common dolphins.

In the afternoon, Wildlife Officer Charlotte was back in the Britannia Lounge to wrap up all the wonderful wildlife we

have seen during this month-long trip: 16 confirmed species of whales and dolphins and a myriad of other animals

were sighted by passengers and the ORCA team on this very successful journey!

We received lovely feedback from many passengers on our activities, and we would like to reciprocate and say that

without all the help from all the passengers and crew, we wouldn’t have been able to do such a fantastic job. Thank

you!

Friday, 07.02.2020: Southampton

After an early breakfast and many goodbyes, it was time for the ORCA team to say farewell to the SAGA Sapphire, that

had become a home for us during the last month. We will not forget this transatlantic journey full of amazing animals,

fantastic food and friendly faces for a long time!

Time to say goodbye. Sunrise in Southampton.


Acknowledgements

We would like to say a huge thank you to all of the crew, the cruise director Jo Boase, Captain ‘Eternal Sunshine’ Stuart

Horne and all the wonderful guests that joined us on this voyage and helped us with our vital data collection work. We

would also like to thank SAGA for allowing us to undertake our surveying work on board.

ORCA is one of the UK’s leading whale and dolphin conservation charities, dedicated to the long-term protection of

whales, dolphins and porpoises (collectively known as cetaceans), and their habitats. For more information about us,

please visit our website www.orcaweb.org.uk

For a map and list of all the marine wildlife seen and recorded during this cruise please see the next pages.


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Recorded cetacean species


Birds

American coot

American kestrel

American oystercatcher

American redstart

Antillean crested hummingbird

Atlantic gannet

Atlantic puffin

Bananaquit

Bananaquit (ssp. Grenada)

Barbados bullfinch

Belted kingfisher

Berthelot's pipit

Black-bellied plover

Black-crowned night heron

Black-faced grassquit

Black-necked stilt

Blue-winged teal

Bridled quail-dove

Broad winged hawk

Brown booby

Brown noddy

Brown pelican

Brown trembler

Carib grackle

Caribbean eleania

Cattle egret

Common ground dove

Common moorhen/gallinule

Cory's shearwater

Eared dove

Eurasian collared-dove

Feral pigeon

Forest thrush

Great blue heron

Great black-backed gull

Great egret

Great shearwater

Great skua

Greater yellowlegs

Green heron

Green-throated carib

Grenada tanager

Grey kingbird

Guadeloupe woodpecker

Guillemot

Herring gull

Herring gull

House sparrow

House wren

Killdeer

Kittiwake

Leach's petrel

Lesser Antillean bullfinch

Lesser Antillean saltator

Lesser Antillean swift

Lesser black back

Lesser black-backed gull

Lesser yellow legs

Little blue heron

Madeiran petrel

Magnificent frigatebird

Mangrove cuckoo

Masked booby

Muscovy duck

Osprey

Pearly-eyed thrasher

Pied-billed grebe

Plain swift

Plumbeous warbler

Purple-throated carib

Razorbill

Red billed tropic bird

Red Junglefowl

Red tailed hawk

Red-billed tropicbird

Red-footed booby

Roseate tern

Royal tern

Ruddy duck

Scaly-breasted thrasher

Scaly-naped pigeon

Semi-palmated plover

Semi-palmated sandpiper

Smooth-billed ani

Snowy egret

Spotted sandpiper

Tricolored heron

Trindade petrel

Trindade petrel

Tropical mockingbird

White crowned pigeon

White winged dove

White-cheeked pintail

White-tailed tropicbird

Wilson’s plover

Wimbrel (Hudsonian)

Yellow legged gull

Yellow warbler

Zenaida dove


Other wildlife

Reptiles

Antiguan ameiva

Banded anole

Barbados anole

Brown anole

Bronze Anole

Common Puerto Rican ameiva

Crested anole

Green iguana

Grenada tree anole

Grenadine Ameiva

Madeira wall lizard

Martinique’s anole

Saint Lucian anole

Watt’s anole

Crustaceans

Sally lightfoot crab

Blackback land crab

Atlantic ghost crab

Fiddler crab

Caribbean land hermit crab

Fish & other marine wildlife

Leatherback turtle

Mahi-mahi (Dolphinfish)

Flying fish

Atlantic needlefish

Bluehead Wrasse

Slippery Dick

Smallmouth Grunt

Brown Chromis

Yellowtail Damselfish

Atlantic Sergeant Major

Atlantic Blue Tang

Smooth Trunkfish

Spotted Moray

Nine-armed Sea Star

West Indian Fuzzy Chiton

Scaly Chiton

Caribbean Christmas Tree Worm

Atlantic Rock-boring Urchin

West Indian Sea Egg

Atlantic Long-spined Sea Urchin


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orca wildlife report - orcaweb.org.uk · monday, 06.01.2020: day at sea the upper decks remained...

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