Mar ilimitado - Mediatec / Logbook (Dolphin watching boat trips, boat tours, Marine wildlife, Common dolphin, Delphinus delphis, Minke whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata, Humpback wales, Megaptera novaeangliae, Killer whale, Orcinus orca, Tursiops truncatus, Bottlenose dolphin, Striped dolphin, Stenella coeruleoalba, Harbour porpoise, Phocoena, Seabirds, Statistics, Seabird watching, Cory´s, Scopoli's, Shearwater, Skua, Gannet, Max, Levantine, Yelkouan, Balearic, Wilson's and European Storm Petrel, Oceanites oceanicus, Hydrobathes pelagicus, Puffinus, Mediterranean shearwater, parasiticus, Morus bassanus) - Sagres, Algarve

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Here you will be able to find out more about what we have encountered at sea, our reports, images and curiosities.

2009

Cetacean

Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)

In 2009 we had an unexpected surprise! In July, in windy day, we had and encounter with a Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) very close to the shore (see picture). The whale was about 9 meters, and for this reason we know that it's a juvenile. Yet very little is known about the occurrence of this species on our coast.

But the surprises did not end there and we had a bizarre observation: a species similar to the Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis), the Long-beaked Common dolphin (Delphinus capensis), whose occurrence had never been reported in our waters. Presently, the scientific community still discusses whether these two or should not be considered different species. We did not take pictures, and therefore can not publish it here.

In 2009 we also recorded: Common dolphins, Bottlenose dolphins, Risso's dolphins and Minke whales.

Seabirds

Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus)

In 2009 we recorded our first Cory's shearwater in May and during that month we had also observed adult and juvenile Northen gannets, and a few specimens of the less common European storm petrel or Great Skua.

Very rewarding was the rarity we met in October: the second observation ever in Portuguese mainland waters of a sub-species of the Cory's Shearwater, the Scopoli's shearwater (Calonectris diomedea diomedea) (the first was in the previous year, also in our boat), in a joint venture with SPEA (the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds) during the European Birdwatching Weekend (BirdLife).

Great skua (Morus bassanus)

2005-2009

Since 2005, we already have recorded 9 different species of this marine mammal group.

Common-dolphin (Delphinus delphis)

List of recorded cetacean species:

Common name	Scientific name
Humpback whale	Megaptera novaeangliae
Minke whale	Balaenoptera acutorostrata
Killer whale	Orcinus orca
Risso's dolphin	Grampus griseus
Bottlenose dolphin	Tursiops truncatus
(Short beaked) Common dolphin	Delphinus delphis
Long-beaked Common dolphin	Delphinus capensis
Striped dolphin	Stenella coeroleoalba
Harbour porpoise	Phocoena phocoena

Since the beginning of MAR ILIMITADO in 2005 until the end of 2009, we recorded a total of 9 different cetacean species. The Common Dolphin is the most frequently sighted species, in opposition to the punctual observations of Striped-dolphin, Long-beaked Common dolphin and Humpback whale. We have also sighted beaked whales of the genus Mesoplodon occasionally, but due to difficulty in their identification we could not identify it to the species (and classified it as non-identified Mesoplodon spp.).

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