This new year started with some stormy weather and rough sea conditions which did not allow many whalewatching trips...

Week 5: From the 26th of January to the 1st of February 2026
Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus
No other sightings due to stormy weather

Week 4: From the 19th to the 25th of January 2026
Striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba
Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella frontalis
Short-beaked common dolphin Delphinus delphis
Common Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus
Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus

Winter is definitely not the best time for whale watching! Not only the weather and sea conditions influence the trips and sightings as there are less number of cetacean species passing by Madeira waters.

Week 52: From the 22nd to the 28th of December 2025
Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella frontalis
Common Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus
Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus

Week 51: From the 15th to the 21th of December 2025
Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus
Common Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus

In November, as the ocean water starts to cool down, the number of marine mammal species passing through Madeira archipelago start to decrease as well...

Week 48: From the 17th to the 23rd of November 2025
Sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus
Blainville's beaked whale Mesoplodon densirostris
Cuvier's beaked whale Ziphius cavirostris
Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus
Common Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus

After a summer with lack of small fish around the island, let's see if this month some more baleen whales will pass by on their migration...

Week 44: From the 27th tof October to the 2nd of November 2025
Striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba
Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella frontalis
Common Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus
Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus
Sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus

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.