18.08.2026 – Dolphins from Funchal
August 25, 2026
Early afternoon, guests had a nice surprise of encountering a rare species : the Mediterranean Monk Seal (Monachus monachus). In Portuguese, it is known as “Lobo-marinho” meaning sea wolf. They were unfortunately hunted for their skin and fat when the Island was discovered in 1420. Now, the population is estimated between 30-40 individuals, showing a fragile but positive long-term recovery trend from a low of 6-8 individuals in the 1980s. Seals are mainly in the Desertas Islands Natural Reserve. Conservations actions are implementier and focus on habitat protection, non-invasive population monitoring, and mitigating human-wildlife conflicts. This one individual was resting at the surface and not two bothered by our presence.
The elegant Short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) were present in a group of around 15-20 individuals with a few calves. A young one performed a fascinating behavior: spy-hopping. The animal will lift its head vertically straight up out of the water to look at its surroundings or check out nearby boats. It reminds us that pilot whales are very smart and social cetaceans and that sometimes we can get an “eye to eye” moment with them!
By Juliette Colançon
Sightings of the day
Ribeira Brava
09:00 Short-finned pilot whales
13:00 Mediterranean Monk seal, Short-finned pilot whales
16:30 Bottlenose dolphins
Steno
09:30 Loggerhead sea turtle, Risso’s dolphins, Short-finned pilot whales
13:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Mediterranean monk seal, Short-finned pilot whales
16:30 Atlantic spotted dolphins, Bottlenose dolphins
