10.07.2025 – Ocean Safari

Today we could appreciate the biodiversity of marine life on the island of Madeira. From the cetacean side we could appreciate 2 species of beaked whales, the Blainville’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris) and the not often seen Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris). Beaked whales are deep diving champions and can be seen only in the few minutes they spend at the surface.

The opposite were the dolphins we saw. Here we had Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) and Striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba). These are small oceanic dolphins staying in the surface waters were they feed mainly on fish. For that they are some of the fastest

swimmers from the dolphins we can see here around Madeira. Apart from those dolphins, we also had during the day some Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). These more relaxed dolphins are frequently seen around Madeira.

But on this safari we saw also some no-cetaceans. We were lucky enough to see some loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta), Cory’s shearwaters (Calonectris borealis) and Portuguese man-o-war (Physalis physalis). All of these animals only spend some time on Madeira, some for feeding, others for nesting and the last drifts passively by.

By Horst Schulte

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:00 Blainville’s beaked whale, Atlantic spotted dolphin, Loggerhead sea turtle

13:00 Bottlenose dolphin

16:30 No sightings

Stenellla

09:30 Blainville’s beaked whale, Cuvier’s beaked whale, Atlantic spotted dolphin, Striped dolphin, Loggerhead sea turtle

13:30 Bottlenose dolphin, Atlantic spotted dolphin, Striped dolphin

16:30 No sightings