Dolphins & Whales

About Dolphins in Portugal

Dolphins belong to cetacea infraorder, which includes also whales and porpoises. Cetaceans are widely distributed throughout the world, being present in any ocean. Species like the Common dolphins or bottlenose dolphins, are very common worldwide. The whole portuguese coastline is home to thousands of wild dolphins from different species, however, very little is known yet about their abundance in real numbers. At any point on our coastline you may find bottlenose dolphins, common dolphins and porpoises. It is not rare to find groups of hundreds (or even thousands) of common dolphins and striped dolphins around here. We are committed to collect more data and information regarding dolphins distribution in the Eastern Algarve as well as evaluating potential threats to their conservation. Take a look below to find out which species we see the most in this area!

Dolphin species

Dolphins we can find in Faro – Algarve

Common dolphin

Delphinus delphis
All year round (Resident). The most common sighting. Very abundant

Bottlenose dolphins

Tursiops truncatus

All year round (Resident). Very common. Both coast and oceanic ecotypes present

Orcas – Killer Whale

Orcinus orca

Spring and summer, following tuna migrations

Striped dolphins

Stenella coeruleoalba

All year round (Resident). Common

Risso’s dolphin

Grampus griseus

Rarely seen near Faro but resident in Sagres

False KIller Whales

Pseudorca crassidens

We spot those incredible predators hunting tuna during spring

Short Finned Pilot Whales

Globicephala macrorhynchus

Rare – late spring and early summer

Spotted dolphins

Stenella frontalis

Rare – our only records are in summer months

Baleen Whales

Fin Whale

Balaenoptera physalus

Very common in Spring (Migratory)

Minke Whale

Balaenoptera acutorostrata

All year round (Resident); Most of our sightings are from February to May

Sei Whale

Balaenoptera borealis

Very rare; Random sightings

Bryde’s Whale

Balaenoptera edeni
Seasonal; end of Spring and Summer

Humpback Whale

Megaptera novaeangliae
Very rare