Ocean Conservation

Ocean conservation is one of the primary goals of Magic Dolphin. We see ourselves as stewards of the world class ocean environment in Madeira where our role is to protect it for future generations. Our conservation efforts begin with our boats and operations.

In 2022 Magic Dolphin Eco catamaran became the latest addition to our fleet of dolphin and whale watching tour boats. It is an example of how dedicated we are the protecting the ocean environment. Eco is the only boat on Madeira that uses hybrid-electric engines to reduce our carbon footprint and minimize underwater noise in the cetaceans environment. We also do our best to eliminate single use plastics onboard and recycle all waste created on our tours.

In 2023 Sea Safari adventure RIB/Speedboat was completely retrofitted. We upgraded the engines for two new 250 hp Mercury lean burning outboards. The latest Mercury engines create the lowest levels of carbon emissions and underwater noise. We do not serve food or beverages on the 2 hour Sea Safari adventure tours, instead we suggest our guests bring their own reusable water bottles to eliminate single plastics waste.

The next upgrade will be on our sailing catamaran Celebrity which is our original dolphin and whale watching boat.

The traditional approach to dolphin and whale watching is to drive the boat around looking for dolphins and whales to observe. Typically, once animals have been found, this information is shared with other boats in the area, creating stress on the animals and excessive carbon emissions. Instead we use a team of whale spotters from land. They use powerful binoculars to find the cetaceans and direct the boat right to them. This saves us time and limits our carbon emissions, it also reduces stress on the dolphins and whales as the spotters can direct us to animals where there are no other boats.

When possible we go the extra step and remove garbage from the ocean during our tours. This is practical from the Sea Safari tour boat as it is small and maneuverable. So we can easily stop and collect any garbage from the marine ecosystem which helps protect dolphins, whales, sea birds and marine turtles from entanglement and ingesting foreign objects that can lead to mortality.