Another winter month though temperatures in Madeira are not really showing it... Let's see which whales & dolphins' species visit Madeira this these mild weather:

Week 8: From the 20th to the 26th of February 2023
Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus
Common Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus
Short-beaked common dolphin Delphinus delphis
Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella frontalis

Happy New Year! We wish all nature's beings a healthy, natural and happy life!

Week 4: From the 23rd to the 29th of January 2023
Bryde's whale Balaenoptera edeni
Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus
Common Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus
Short-beaked common dolphin Delphinus delphis
Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella frontalis

December is not a very diversified month in terms of cetacean species around Madeira archipelago but this year things were different and we even got a Humpback whale visiting us for this Christmas month!

Week 52: From the 26th of December 2022 to the 1st of January 2023
Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae
Bryde's whale Balaenoptera edeni
Striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba
Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella frontalis
Short-beaked common dolphin Delphinus delphis
Rough-toothed dolphin Steno bredanensis
Common Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus

November is no longer the best season for cetaceans but as long as the weather and sea conditions as favourable it is still possible to find some species of marine mammals around Madeira.

Week 47: From the 21st to the 27th of November 2022
Sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus
False killer whale Pseudorca crassidens
Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus
Common Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus
Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella frontalis
Striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba
Bryde's whale Balaenoptera edeni

October is the last good month of the whale watching season! Winter is not so good for the cetacean species that usually pass through Madeira. Between November and April the number of marine mammal species observed around Madeira archipelago decreases significantly.

Week 43: From the 24th to the 30th of October2022
Blainville's beaked whale Mesoplodon densirostris
Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus
False killer whale Pseudorca crassidens
Common Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus
Rough-toothed dolphin Steno bredanensis
Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella frontalis
Striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba

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.