SEABIRDS, DOLPHINS AND WHALES

Other animals that accompany sailors and often help them discover schools of fish are birds. Their movements also indicate signs of good or bad weather. Those that can be seen on our coasts are:

It is also common to encounter dolphins and whales at sea. The richness of the seabed, the transparency and excellent temperatures of the waters, with an average of 19ºC in winter and 25ºC in summer, attract many marine animals. Many of these animals live permanently off the coast of Mogán. They are known as resident species.

Among the cetaceans visible in the area are:

• Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), weighing 136 kilos and measuring 260 centimetres in length.
• Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis), weighing 80 kilos and measuring 190 centimetres in length.
• Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), weighing 650 kilos and measuring 381 centimetres in length.
• Striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), weighing 165 kilos and measuring 250 metres. Grey beaked whale (Grampus griseus), weighing 500 kilos and measuring 410 centimetres.
• Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris), weighing 2,000 kilos and measuring 650 centimetres.
• Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), weighing 57,000 kilos and measuring 18 metres.