Spotting whales and dolphins in the wild: it is on the bucket list of many travellers 🐬 A trip through Madeira, located in the bountiful Atlantic Ocean, is therefore the perfect time to fulfil that dream. Fortunately, the time when we visited animal shows in large numbers and saw animals in captivity as a form of entertainment has passed. Yet this does not mean that animal spotting in the wild is necessarily better: these practices can also cause (unintentional) animal suffering. It is therefore vital to be able to cross the activity off your bucket list responsibly.
In destinations where wildlife tourism is growing, there is a danger of neglecting animal welfare. This is no different with dolphin and whale watching. To meet demand, these animals are regularly disturbed in their natural behaviour, which can cause stress, injury and reproductive disruption, or even drive them away from the ocean 🌊
In the waters around Madeira, there is a rule that only one boat is allowed to go to the dolphins, whales or other marine animals at a time. Once you reach the animals, the maximum time you can spend with them is 10 minutes. Most captains strictly adhere to these rules, which promotes the welfare of the animals. As for dolphins, it is fascinating that they sometimes keep following the boat for long periods of time. They like to play and sometimes follow boats for their own pleasure. Or they like you 😉
Read more in the article (written in Dutch).
