The Regional Secretariat for the Environment and the Sea informs that a newborn Risso’s dolphin (Grampus griseus) was found south of Pico Island.
To ensure the protection of marine mammals, one should remind the need to strictly comply with the rules for cetacean watching. Whenever a group with young dolphins is sighted, boats must keep a safe distance. Any approach to this baby dolphin or any other and is unadvisable and it is totally forbidden to swim with them.
Cetaceans are protected by the Bern Convention and the Habitats Directive, and “choosing the Azoreans islands to breed is a true privilege,” stated the Regional Director of Environment, Frederico Cardigos. “It's not the first time we register an event of this kind, but we must create the necessary conditions to ensure the successful outcome of this baby dolphin and others, making the Azorean sea a privileged space for these happy events.”
Risso’s dolphins are easily recognisable due to the depigmentation of the skin that occurs throughout life and the presence of white scars. It is thought that these scars are the result of social interactions among the group and struggles with their favourite prey - squids. For this reason, the skin of older individuals becomes whitish.
This species is often sighted in cluster with other dolphins and pilot whales. They can stay underwater for more than thirty minutes, but they usually dive for a minute or two and return to breathe for 15-20 seconds.