08.08.2025 – Marine meeting point

Madeira’s geological location and conditions make it an excellent marine restaurant and a marine meeting place for a wide variety of marine mammals. Steeply sloping coasts provide a wealth of nutrients due to the waves and there are sufficient shelters for juvenile fish. For this reason, this area offers the opportunity to observe resident, seasonal, passing through and occasionally lingering marine mammals. Today we had something from every category. Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are resident animals. Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) are our summer dolphins, so they are seasonal. Rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis) are here from time to time and Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) are passing through. They were beautiful tours, each one in its own right.

By Fatima Kutzschbach

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:00 Atlantic spotted dolphins

13:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Rough-toothed dolphins

16:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Rough-toothed dolphins

Stenella

09:30 Rough-toothed dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins, Sperm whale

13:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Rough-toothed dolphins, Sperm whale

16:30 Bottlenose dolphins, Rough-toothed dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins