Atlantic humpback dolphins of the Saloum delta — the species' last stronghold
Atlantic humpback dolphin (Sousa teuszii, critically endangered; minimum 103 animals, the largest known population), with bottlenose dolphins at the mouth. Delta du Saloum — Diomboss and Saloum rivers, Toubacouta to Djifer, Senegal.
Best time: 15 Oct – 31 Mar (October to March). Where: Toubacouta, Bétenti and the lower Diomboss, Missirah (Senegal). Time of day: First three hours after sunrise on a rising tide, when groups of up to 30 hunt along the mangrove edges of the Diomboss within a few hundred metres of shore.
- Partly on your own
- Low cost
- Binoculars helpful
- Sound 3/5
Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.
When is the best time?
Peak: 15 Oct – 31 Mar. Resident all year; the calmest water and the most sightings are October to March (newborn calves seen in November; annual surveys run Oct–Nov and Feb–March)
Active from 1 Jan to 31 Dec (all year) in a typical year.
Time of day
First three hours after sunrise on a rising tide, when groups of up to 30 hunt along the mangrove edges of the Diomboss within a few hundred metres of shore; the wind rises by late morning
- Morning pirogue: sunrise → 3 h after sunrise
Depends on the tide: best around high tide. Check local tide tables.
What will you hear?
Through 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.
Binoculars?
Binoculars helpful. Dolphins surface 50–300 m from the pirogue; binoculars help spot the low dorsal hump. Hydrophone matters more than optics.
Where to go
- Toubacouta — Main pirogue base for the Diomboss and the Bamboung marine protected area; lodges hire boats and boatmen. Dolphins recorded 20 km upstream of the Bandiala mouth here. Map
- Bétenti and the lower Diomboss — Island village on the Diomboss, the river with the highest relative abundance in the 2015 survey; pirogue from Toubacouta or Missirah. Map
- Missirah — Fishing village and pirogue base on the southern channel towards the Bandiala mouth. Map
- Djifer point (Saloum mouth) — Sandspit where the Saloum meets the sea: dolphins pass the mouth and are watched free from the beach; bottlenose dolphins here too. Map
How to go on your own, and what it costs
Sept-place or bus to Toubacouta (via Kaolack or Fatick, about 5 h from Dakar) or to Djifer via Joal and Palmarin. Hire a pirogue and boatman at a lodge or in the village for a dawn trip on the Diomboss (3–4 h); the boatmen know where the dolphins were yesterday. No guide required by law outside the park's protected islands, but the community MPAs charge entry.
Cost: Pirogue with boatman about 25,000–40,000 CFA for a half day (negotiated locally, recent trip reports); Bamboung MPA entry a few thousand CFA; free from the Djifer beach. Check current prices.
Free or no-guide alternative: Walk to the end of the Djifer sandspit at sunrise on a rising tide: humpback and bottlenose dolphins work the Saloum mouth a few hundred metres off the beach. Free, no boat.
Who runs access
- African Aquatic Conservation Fund — Saloum Sousa project (research project) — Research NGO running the annual surveys with the park and MPAs; occasional volunteer or training places, not tours.
Field-recording notes
The species is extremely shy of boats: approach slowly, parallel, engine idling or off, never between mother and calf — one disturbance and the group is gone up a bolong. Hydrophone from an anchored pirogue, engine off, on a slack or rising tide; the main noise is other pirogues' outboards and the Foundiougne ferry. Mangrove channels are quiet otherwise. The delta is a national park and biosphere reserve: a DPN permit is needed for research or commercial recording, and the marine protected areas (Bamboung) have their own community rules and fees. Dry-season harmattan haze; mosquitoes at dusk.
Sources
- Sousa teuszii consortium – Atlantic humpback dolphins in the Saloum Delta: distribution, relative abundance and photo-ID (Weir 2016; 103 animals, Diomboss)
- Sousa teuszii consortium – Preliminary results of the 2021 and 2022 Saloum surveys (acoustic recorders, group sizes)
- AACF – Back on the boat in the Saloum Delta (February 2025 survey, 17 sightings, SoundTraps)
- Sousa teuszii consortium – Senegal country page (Djifer, Ndangane, Bandiala, Djinack records)
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More: all spectacles in Senegal · dolphins · whales, dolphins and seals · Senegal in January · Senegal in February · Senegal in March · Senegal in October · Senegal in November · Senegal in December