20.02.2023 – Coastal whale-watching

I always begin the tours by informing our guests of the deep waters surrounding Madeira and that these allow animals to approach the shoreline. Our team generally wants to make avid whale-watchers out of all our guests and hopes that our tours serve as an inspiration for them to keep a lookout from the coastline for the rest of their holiday. The animals we encountered today emphasised these exact points.

Our day began with a group of Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) feeding and frolicking in front of Ponta do Sol, who were soon joined by a further pod that joined in the hunt further east off Ribeira Brava. Onlookers in the coastal cafes of Lugar de Baixo and Ponta do Sol saw our boat approaching the animals and were able to enjoy their own little whale-watching session from the shore. Guests from the Saccharin hotel or nearby accommodations often tell our team of sightings of Bottlenose dolphins close to the aquaculture in front of Calheta. We met a pod of these in the afternoon and our team is amazed at how well the dolphins time their arrival in the fish farms with the lunch break of the workers looking after the enclosures.

Further offshore a group of Short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) was moving in a tight formation in the morning but dispersed to hunt laster in the afternoon. Nevertheless both sightings were short but wonderful; the curiosity of this beautiful species never fails to impress and, like Bottlenose dolphins, this is another species that is likely to be spotted from shore. 

Although sightings from shore are incredible, nothing beats meeting these animals out in the open ocean but we are happy to make hobby spotters out of all our followers and guests!

By Paula Thake

Sightings of the day

Stenella

09:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Short-beaked common dolphins

13:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Short-beaked common dolphins