Even the Guanches, (the native peoples of the archipelago) knew that there was a great number of dolphins in the coastal waters of La Gomera. And there are records of a song they used to sing about dolphins called 'Those who want to live'. It is also interesting to note that the Italian discoverer Leonardo Torriani mentions the high density of dolphins off the coast of Gomera in his 'Description of the Canary Islands' which he wrote in 1590.
However it is only in recent times and due to systematic whalewatching that we now know there is a higher density and greater diversity of whales and dolphins off the coast of La Gomera than in other oceans and also that these same waters are home to a rare species of the whale family. This is now common knowledge, thanks to the efforts of researchers and scientists who have worked together with Club de Mar to find out more about the marine mammals which inhabit our coastal waters. A new species is discovered almost every year. But we had to wait ten years, namely from 1989-1999, before we saw the Blue Whale. The ones we saw then may have been the only ones to have been seen in the archipelago of this now rare species which has been brought to the brink of extinction by man.
This sighting quickly became an international sensation and there are photographs and film footage documenting the same. For the benefit of all those who are still fascinated by wild animals in their natural habitat, we will be publishing a series about these mammals based on on our sightings of them - so with a bit of luck, you also will be able to see them.
Whales are mammals and for reasons which are unclear, returned to the water millions of years ago. Some of them are extraordinarily large, much larger than dinosaurs (the tongue of the Blue Whale for instance, weighs more than a mature elephant).
Zoologically, whales can be divided into 2 orders or sub-orders known as bearded whales (Mysteceti) and toothed whales (Odontoceti). These 2 orders are sub-divided again into families and these into species and different sub-species. The only bearded whale which interests us here is the family of the Balaenopteridae (or Rorquals) because 5 sub-species of this family have been seen and identified in the coastal waters of La Gomera. The Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus), the Fin Whale, also known as the Finback Whale (Balaenoptera physalus), the Bryde's Whale (Balaenoptera edeni), the Sei Whale (Balaenoptera borealis) and the Minke Whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata). There may be other sub-species within this family which have yet to be discovered.