Odontoceti

Toothed whales

Odontoceti – Toothed Whales

Odontoceti, or “toothed whales,” form a diverse group of marine mammals that includes dolphins, porpoises, sperm whales, and several deep-diving oceanic species. Unlike baleen whales, these animals possess teeth and rely on echolocation to hunt, navigate, and communicate beneath the surface.

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

Striped dolphins

Stenella coeruleoalba

All year round (Resident). Common

Spotted dolphins

Stenella frontalis

Rare – our only records are in summer months

Risso’s dolphin

Grampus griseus

Rarely seen near Faro but resident in Sagres

Harbour Porpoise

Phocoena phocoena

One of the smallest cetaceans and the only porpoise species found in Portuguese waters.

False KIller Whales

Pseudorca crassidens

We spot those incredible predators hunting tuna during spring

Orcas – Killer Whale

Orcinus orca

Spring and summer, following tuna migrations

Short Finned Pilot Whales

Globicephala macrorhynchus

Rare – late spring and early summer

Cuvier’s Beaked Whale

Ziphius cavirostris

One of the most elusive and deep-diving marine mammals.

Sowerby Beaked Whale

Mesoplodon bidens

Elusive species that lives in deep, temperate waters of the North Atlantic.