Madeira Whale Watching
Odontoceti - Toothed whales
The order Cetacea comprises the sea mammals commonly known as whales, dolphins and porpoises, and is divided into two extant sub-orders: Odontoceti (toothed whales) and Mysticeti (baleen whales).
The Odontoceti suborder includes all the cetaceans with teeth and a single nostril in the blowhole. This sub-order, also defined as toothed whales and dolphins, include the beaked whales, sperm whales, all dolphins and porpoises, the Narwhal and Beluga.
The following list includes reported toothed whales, dolphins and porpoises around Madeira. Linked profiles explain the evidence and any uncertainty in identification:
Superfamily: DELPHINOIDEA (Oceanic dolphins and relatives)
Family: DELPHINIDAE
- Short-beaked common dolphin Delphinus delphis
- Fraser's dolphin Lagenodelphis hosei
- Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella frontalis
- Pantropical spotted dolphin Stenella attenuata
- Striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba
- Common Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus
- Pygmy killer whale Feresa attenuata
- Long-finned pilot whale Globicephala melas - Historical identification unconfirmed in the 2012 review
- Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus
- Risso's dolphin Grampus griseus
- Killer whale Orcinus orca
- Melon-headed whale Peponocephala electra - Historical identification unconfirmed in the 2012 review
- False killer whale Pseudorca crassidens
- Rough-toothed dolphin Steno bredanensis
Family: PHOCOENIDAE (Porpoises)
- Harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena - Historical identification unconfirmed in the 2012 review
Superfamily: PHYSETEROIDEA (Sperm whales)
Family: KOGIIDAE
- Dwarf sperm whale Kogia sima
- Pygmy sperm whale Kogia breviceps
Family: PHYSETERIDAE
- Sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus
Superfamily: ZIPHIOIDEA (Beaked whales)
Family: ZIPHIIDAE
- Northern bottlenose whale Hyperoodon ampullatus - Reported on local trips in 2016 and 2023
- Gervais' beaked whale Mesoplodon europaeus
- Sowerby's beaked whale Mesoplodon bidens
- Blainville's beaked whale Mesoplodon densirostris
- Cuvier's beaked whale Ziphius cavirostris