Both dolphins and Orcas are classified as members of the dolphin the family but when we speak of dolphins we generally refer to the following 5 dolphin species which can all be seen in the coastal waters of La Gomera and in fact we see them much more regularly than we see whales.
1.The Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
Of all the dolphins it is the Bottlenose which has been nicknamed "the friend of man". This may be because the angle of its elongated jaws create a curved mouth reminiscent of a permanent smile. The Bottlenose is also an incredible acrobat and has been popularised in the television series "Flipper". Unfortunately great numbers of these dolphins have become a favourite attraction at delphinaria across the world and are trained to perform for the public, despite the best efforts of their real friends, the animal protectionists. The Bottlenose Dolphins have a black back and a light grey belly. Newborns are about 1.20 metres in length. They exist in practically all temporate zones of the world and some of them remain in the same area, while others are constantly on the move. Some live on their own, others in groups. Some establish strong bonds with each other, others do not and can be compared with non-conformist human beings. For this reason it is very difficult, if not impossible to determine where and when, during which phase of the moon, in what kind of wind or weather conditions we might find them.
We know that they are in the waters off the coast of La Gomera all year round but we never know if and when we will see them. And neither do we know what mood they will be in if we do find them. Sometimes they are obviously happy about our visit, jumping for joy and performing acrobatics all around the boat. At other times however, they ignore us completely and are probably preoccupied with other matters or keep a distance and pay us no attention whatever. We respect their behaviour - after all, we are the ones who have gone out to visit them.
After a gestation period of 12 months the calves are born and suckled by their mothers for 12-18 months. During this time the calves remain at their mother's side, imitating their mothers every move in perfect synchronisation. In keeping with all other dolphins, the Bottlenose orientates using sonar echolocation or clicks. We do not know if these clicks are used for other purposes as well. In his book entitled "Man's place" Karl-Erik Fichtelius says "the dolphins are ahead of us in at least one thing: they can almost certainly hear through objects". Sound waves below water penetrate a body such as that of a dolphin or a human being and lose density, due to the absorption or deviation of sound waves. The dolphins can hear much like a radiologist can see with the help of an x-ray machine. This is of great significance for communicating emotions and indicates there is potential for individualised interactions and communication within the species. We human beings show a great deal of our emotions through facial expressions which we can control consciously. The dolphins however express their emotions through movements in the intestines, or peristalsis which they cannot control coonsciously. Therefore a dolphin cannot pretend to be anything that it is not. Humans who have problems expressing their feelings may feel that the dolphins have a great advantage.
The Bottlenose is not a threatened species at the moment thank goodness. Robert K.G. Temple is of the opinion that there are more dolphins alive than human beings. "And as a result, it is certain that the the oceans are over-populated". (It appears to make sense since ¾ of the surface of the Earth is covered with water and only l/4 is land).
One of the areas around La Gomera these dolphins appear to like is the coastline off the village of La Rajita and the beach of Iguala. At sunset it is possible to find huge schools of them and they may be hunting shrimps or prawns, simply by jumping out of the water and doing acrobatics. Unfortunately for us they only do this when they feel like it and we never know in advance when that will be. It is probable that this is their usual behaviour when no one else is around.
2.The Striped Dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba)
Often called the blue and white dolphin because of the light blue-grey colour of their flanks and their white chest, this dolphin is truly an eye-catcher. But its main distinguishing features are the black lines which run from behind the eyes to the tail fin. The Striped Dolphin is a true acrobat, who in addition to leaping forwards or backwards, turning twice in the air or twisting, also swims on its back and does an upside-down somersault. May be up to 2.7 metres in length. Normally lives in remote, tropical to temporate waters. The Striped Dolphin lives on crabs, squid and small fish. Newborn calves are approximately 90 cms long and are suckled by the mother for a year to a year and a half. They sometimes travel in large groups of hundreds and often fall victim to the circular trawling nets used by tuna fishermen. These huge nets have been condemned and many animal protection organisations are trying to get them prohibited but unfortunately they continue to be used, especially in the Pacific. In addition the fishing industry takes advantage of the fact that the Yellow Fin Tuna (Thunnus albacares) is driven by the dolphins to the best fishing grounds and richest banks of fish. It is here that these gigantic circular nets are unravelled, which may be 1.5 kilometers long and 130 metres deep. In boats with powerful outboard motors the fishermen intimidate the dolphins and tuna, drive them to the middle of the circular death net which then closes leaving them trapped inside. They are caught all together and then winched on board. In this way the American tuna fishermen caught 4.8 million dolphins between 1959 and 1972. In 1961 the figure was much higher at 534,000. In 1986 the figure fell to 15,000 (all in the Pacific), thanks to the banning of these nets.
3.The Atlantic Spotted Dolphin (Stenella frontales)
The Atlantic Spotted Dolphin (correctly we should say the Spotted Dolphin of the Atlantic) is really a creature of tropical waters. We have still not been able to explain why we see it so often in the coastal waters of La Gomera. It may be because it likes the Canary Islands, in much the same way as we do or more probably because there is an abundant supply of squid which is its main source of food. It has been here for a long time and a new sub-species has evolved which is a little smaller (1.8 metres) than the rest of the spotted dolphins in the world which measures around 2 metres and travels in groups of 20-50, although sometimes there may be several hundred of them. Very little is known about their reproduction. And there are no reliable records of the numbers of these vivacious and extraordinarily curious animals.
4.The Risso's Dolphin (Grampus griseus)
These dolphins are one of the most friendly. At the end of the 19th century near New Zealand, these dolphins used accompany the sailing boats into the port. Today they no longer do this because some heartless idiot started to shoot them, just to pass the time. The Risso's Dolphin grows up to 3-4 metres in length, is white to blue-grey and has a very round, flat head. The dorsal fin is angled backwards and darker than the rest of the body. Their habitat is normally in deep, tropical or temporate waters but as in the Canary Islands, they always choose deep waters. They are very agile and if they feel like it, they can perform incredible acrobatics, leaps and pirouettes. Squid is their main source of food. It may be that they feed exclusively on squid. Little is known about this species, nor about how many there might be, but it is believed to be a prolific species. Not much is known about their reproduction but it is thought that they are 3 metres in length by the time they reach sexual maturity. During their lifetime they accumulate scratches and scars which makes them look like small white whales. They are still being hunted in Japan, despite it being against the law. The Japanese appear to be the most bloodthirsty hunters of dolphins and don“t seem to care.
5. The Long-beaked or Roughtoothed Dolphin (Steno bredanensis)
The Roughtoothed Dolphin was once considered to be a fairly rare species, possibly because they prefer distant, offshore waters and were therefore not seen very often. In recent times however, with the growth in popularity of whale- and dolphinwatching, they have been sighted more regularly, particularly near Hawaii and La Gomera. Having been named after the vertical ridges or notches on their teeth which are unique to this species of dolphin, they are easily recognisable by their long, slender beaks (in La Gomera they are known as the dolphin with the long nose). Roughtoothed dolphins grow up to 2.7 metres in length and are generally darkish grey or black in colour. However the body sometimes has lilac, pink or white patches. They have large, striking black eyes; not much is known about their reproductive habits.
During our excursions we see them in groups of 10 or 20, sometimes riding the waves. We have only seen them with members of their own species, although reports from other parts of the world indicate that they join up and travel together with other species of dolphins and pilot whales. In our experience, they are not timid creatures as they sometimes come very close to our boats. However we have heard from sources elsewhere that their behaviour reflects a less social nature. This may be due to their habitat having been degraded and that they have been hunted and threatened by large, fast boats which disturb their way of life.
6. The Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphi)
The Greeks gave the dolphins this name long before scientists discovered there were many different species and so in effect, all other species of dolphin were named after Delphinus Delphi or the Common Dolphin. They can often be seen swimming in the wake of boats in the Mediterranean and other tropical seas and are often sighted in the coastal waters of La Gomera. The front part of their body is yellow or brown, the rest is grey. On the side there is a zigzag and on their loins a lighter-coloured patch. They can grow up to 2.5 metres in length and bear one calf a year which is suckled by the mother for about 4 months. Their main source of food is fish and squid. They live in schools numbering 40 to thousands of individual animals. Their habitual behaviour of coming close to boats in order to swim in the wake, or bow-ride, may have begun a long time ago, before there were boats when they swam in the wake of large, bearded whales.
In the Black Sea 120,000 Common Dolphins were hunted and killed annually by merciless Russian, Bulgarian, Rumanian and Turkish seamen. By the mid-1960s they were practically extinct in the Black Sea. In an April 1982 edition of the "Sunday Times" it said “Turkish fishermen kill dolphins in such huge quantities that the much publicised massacres of these animals by the Japanese look like child“s play“.
According to a spokesperson from the Commision of Animals in Danger of Extinction, 900,000 of these animals have been killed in the last 15 years.
Most of them are killed for dolphin oil, the rest are used to make fishmeal for poultry. Since the European Community banned imports of whale and dolphin products, the demand for dolphin oil has ceased to exist. In the 1930“s the Russians, Bulgarians, Rumanians and Turks caught 250,000 dolphins a year and the inevitable happened - the number of dolphins reduced so drastically that the countries of the Ost Bloc ended up in a blood-bath. Despite this, fishermen from Trabzon and other ports in the Black Sea massacred whole schools of dolphins during the winter in the sea towards the West. In 1983 Turkey passed a law that finally prohibited the hunting of dolphins. In La Gomera such a law is fortunately not necessary. The people here are happy to see our ocean friends from time to time in these coastal waters .