Dolphins
6 places to see and hear dolphins in the wild, in 6 countries from United Kingdom to Senegal: when each one peaks, where to go on your own, what it costs and what you will hear. Wild animals only, no zoos.
Best time, place by place
| Spectacle | Country | Peak | On your own? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bottlenose dolphins from the shore | United Kingdom | 1 Jun – 31 Aug | You can go on your own |
| Iroise: grey seals of Molène and Sein dolphins | France | 15 Sep – 15 Dec | Partly on your own |
| Bottlenose dolphins of the Kvarnerić, Lošinj | Croatia | 1 Jun – 15 Sep | Partly on your own |
| The Sado's resident bottlenose dolphins | Portugal | 1 May – 15 Oct | Partly on your own |
| Imraguen mullet fishing with dolphins, Banc d'Arguin | Mauritania | 1 Nov – 31 Dec | Partly on your own |
| Atlantic humpback dolphins of the Saloum delta — the species' last stronghold | Senegal | 15 Oct – 31 Mar | Partly on your own |
Where to go, north to south
Bottlenose dolphins from the shoreWith a hydrophone: whistles, clicks, and burst pulses. Above water: blows and splashes very close to shore.
Iroise: grey seals of Molène and Sein dolphinsSeal moans and pup calls from the reef islets, a resident bottlenose pod around Sein and Molène, and the Iroise swell — France's most oceanic soundscape.
Bottlenose dolphins of the Kvarnerić, LošinjWith a hydrophone: whistles, echolocation click trains and burst-pulse squawks; above water, blows and tail-slaps; unfortunately also every outboard within 10 km.
The Sado's resident bottlenose dolphinsA visual spectacle above water — blows and the slap of a breach — but a hydrophone over the side of the ferry or a kayak in the channel catches the clicks and whistles of a small, closely studied pod; the estuary is otherwise ferry engines, the Setúbal docks and the Atlantic swell at the bar.
Imraguen mullet fishing with dolphins, Banc d'ArguinMen slapping the surface with sticks to call the dolphins, the dolphins' blows as they drive the shoal into the shallows, and the whole village on the beach hauling nets. Rare now — most mullet are taken by lanche — so ask in the village whether a beach net is planned.
Atlantic humpback dolphins of the Saloum delta — the species' last strongholdThrough a hydrophone: whistles and click-trains of a species almost never recorded (the surveys deploy SoundTraps and F-PODs to build its first sound library). Above water: blows, the slap of a fluke, pied kingfishers, and the mangrove's own chorus of herons and fiddler crabs at low water.