As the sea water keeps warming up towards the end of the summer it might attract some uncommon species of dolphins or whales, or maybe it is too warm?!? So, with sea temperature at 25ºC let's see which marine mammals will pass by Madeira archipelago during September 2023:

Week 37: From the 11th to the 17th of September 2023
Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus
Common Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus

Week 36: From the 4th to the 10th of September 2023
Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella frontalis
Common Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus
Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus
Sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus

Not only the air temperature is higher than usual as the ocean water as well, and these are the perfect conditions for some tropical storms... So let's hope for the best and try to do our share in stopping global warming!

Week 35: From the 28th of August to the 3rd of September 2023
Fin whale Balaenoptera physalus
Bryde's whale Balaenoptera edeni
Sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus
Blainville's beaked whale Mesoplodon densirostris
Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus
Common Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus
Rough-toothed dolphin Steno bredanensis
Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella frontalis

July, as a summer month the whale-watching sightings tend to increase due to the bigger number of boats on the ocean though this year baleen whales are not staying in Madeira waters for long as they used to stay some summers before...

Week 30: From the 24th to the 30th of July 2023
Striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba
Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella frontalis
Rough-toothed dolphin Steno bredanensis
Common Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus
Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus
Cuvier's beaked whale Ziphius cavirostris
Blainville's beaked whale Mesoplodon densirostris
Sowerby's beaked whale Mesoplodon bidens
Bryde's whale Balaenoptera edeni

June is supposed to be a summer month but this year Madeira was hit by a tropical storm 'Oscar' which brought the records of rain ever recorded for the island in just 24 hours... Fortunately there was no greater damage but the ocean was full of debris and rubbish on the 23rd week of 2023...

Week 26: From the 26th of June to the 2nd of July 2023
Sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus
Blainville's beaked whale Mesoplodon densirostris
Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus
Common Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus
Risso's dolphin Grampus griseus
Rough-toothed dolphin Steno bredanensis
Short-beaked common dolphin Delphinus delphis
Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella frontalis
Striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba
Sei whale Balaenoptera borealis
Bryde's whale Balaenoptera edeni

May this be a good month for whale watching around Madeira! May is usually the start of the marine mammals season around Madeira though this year it started in April with quite a good number of different cetacean species passing by these waters.

Week 21: From the 22nd to the 28th of May 2023
Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae
Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella frontalis
Short-beaked common dolphin Delphinus delphis
Common Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus
Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus
Blainville's beaked whale Mesoplodon densirostris
Cuvier's beaked whale Ziphius cavirostris
Sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus

April tends to bring some unusual whale species closer to the coast of Madeira... Let's see which whales and dolphins will come for Easter time!

Week 17: From the 24th to the 30th of April 2023
Blue whale Balaenoptera musculus
Fin whale Balaenoptera physalus
Sei whale Balaenoptera borealis
Common Minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata
Killer whale Orcinus orca
Blainville's beaked whale Mesoplodon densirostris
Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus
Common Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus
Short-beaked common dolphin Delphinus delphis
Striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba
Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella frontalis

This website is developed by Wind Birds' company as a contribute to the knowledge and conservation of whales and dolphins species around the Madeira archipelago and to promote whale watching in a sustainable way.

26 species of cetaceans are confirmed records for Madeira archipelago waters and three species remain as dubious records as there are not enough evidence to allow a definite identification of the species.

One can not write about whale watching without mentioning whaling, as that was how it all started... So we begin by framing historically the whaling industry in Madeira archipelago and the use of its products.
In Madeira, whale watching as a recreational activity started mainly after the end of whaling, when chances to observe whales or dolphins increased for the boats operating coastal or big game fishing trips. By then whale watching was randomly done when by luck a group of cetaceans crossed the course of those trips and the passengers had the chance to observe them. As a dedicated commercial and tourist activity, with companies promoting and running sea trips devoted to the observation of whales and dolphins only started in 2004. From then on whale watching had an average growth of one new boat operating per year.