Dolphin watching in majorca

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julians

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The other day I noticed that there are several firms in santa Ponsa (majorca) offering dolphin watching excursions. I've only ever seen dolphins around mallorca once in 30 years so I was sceptical that these trips ever see dolphins, but looking on trip advisor there are overwhelmingly positive reviews by people who say they saw dolphins.

So does anyone know roughly where these boats in the south west corner of the island go out to to see dolphins on a fairly reliable basis?

I guess I could follow one one day, but just wondering if anyone on here knows the good spots for dolphin watching.
 
I’ve seen a few dolphins here (not a great deal) but there is a whale watching boat about. All I can think is that it must go a long way out!
 
jrudge said:
I have seen them in past portal vells heading to Santa Ponca
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That's the only place I've seen them, I go up and down that stretch of water almost every time I go on the boat and I've only seen them once in over 30 years
 
Sadly the reviews could be fake. I'm sure somewhere in there disclaimer the company will state that being able to see the dolphins isnt guaranteed. Are the reviews left by people who have reviewed other stuff, over a long period of time? If they have , then they are likely to be honest reviews. But if the reviewer's are new, and only just joined Trip Advisor et al, and the only review that they have left is about the dolphin excursion, i doubt they they would be real......
 
Nosealegsyet said:
Sadly the reviews could be fake. I'm sure somewhere in there disclaimer the company will state that being able to see the dolphins isnt guaranteed. Are the reviews left by people who have reviewed other stuff, over a long period of time? If they have , then they are likely to be honest reviews. But if the reviewer's are new, and only just joined Trip Advisor et al, and the only review that they have left is about the dolphin excursion, i doubt they they would be real......
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I considered that but I couldn't see a negative review, I thought I'd see loads of reviews saying 'couldn't see any dolphins' etc, but they were all quite positive
 
julians said:
I considered that but I couldn't see a negative review, I thought I'd see loads of reviews saying 'couldn't see any dolphins' etc, but they were all quite positive
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Which means they could be fake. If they are manufactured reviews by the company, they wouldnt write negative reviews about themselves I doubt.. UNless of course they are a genuine company , and there is a place you can see dolphins that you just don't know about......yet.......Go follow them ! lol
 
We saw dolphins a couple of times just north of Dragonera in our trips around Majorca
 
Thanks Pete, our apartment overlooks Islas Malgrats, never seen any dolphins there, I'm obviously not looking hard enough.
 
I have seen them on 50% of every crossing from Ibiza to Mallorca usually 20 miles out and only a couple of times close in, Soller area is most likely spot.
 
We saw this between Cabrera and Ibiza

whale.gif


But other than that, we have only seen dolphins on the north coast.

However, we almost always see dolphins when we cross from/to mainland Spain.
Most of the time, the appear where the bottom suddenly drops from about 150m to 1500m
See this chart - we usually spot the wild life at these underwater cliffs.

NavionicsWesternMed.resized.png


The above is an interesting view/chart of the Western Med that you don't often see.
It shows that the Balearics stand on a plateau with extremely steep sides.
Just thought it was interesting but in our experience it is these steep underwater cliffs that attract the dolphins and whales.
 
jrudge said:
Probably fed up with the jelly fish that seem bad this year. Wonder if a dolphin can get sting !
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Apparently the jellyfish's main predator is the turtle but turtle numbers have reduced in recent years due to being caught in trawling nets. Off the S coast of France apparently the authorities have been experimenting by banning fishing in turtle nesting areas during the nesting season with some success. I must say that having cruised a few areas in the Med, the Balearics and the adjacent coasts of Spain are quite the worst areas for jellyfish I have come across.

I dont recall seeing a single jellyfish in the Adriatic in 4yrs there and very few in and around Sardinia and whilst they are present off the south coast of France, they are not present in the same numbers as in the Balearics and Spain. I'm no expert and I can't say why this is but I would suspect that poor control of sewage discharge from urban areas has something to do with this
 
We saw our first Balearic dolphin - our first dolphin since leaving the Straits three months ago - two days ago. It was trapped in a fishing net in Cala Ortigual near Soller. A number of paddleboarders were guiding it out of the net. As we were near rocks and under engine I cleared off so not to spook it, so didn't see the (hopefully) happy ending.
Apart from gulls and shearwaters, the Balearics have been have pretty devoid of sealife. The northern coasts have outstandingly beautiful cliffs and calas though.
 
petem said:
I've got the same challenge myself for when we have friends with us in August. Apparently there are a few spots on the Costa Blanca where they hang out. I'll let you know how I get on.
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if you go south towards Benidorm, you have to pass a very big long cliff. The water is @ 200 feet deep and I have seen dolphins there a few times. I think there is a dolphin spotting day boat that goes out of Benidorm - keep your eyes open for it. They are buggers to spot though. I look for flocks of birds out at sea and/or areas were it looks like the sea is boiling/foaming - it's often dolphins herding a shoal of fish.
 
Deleted User said:
Apparently the jellyfish's main predator is the turtle but turtle numbers have reduced in recent years due to being caught in trawling nets. Off the S coast of France apparently the authorities have been experimenting by banning fishing in turtle nesting areas during the nesting season with some success. I must say that having cruised a few areas in the Med, the Balearics and the adjacent coasts of Spain are quite the worst areas for jellyfish I have come across.

I dont recall seeing a single jellyfish in the Adriatic in 4yrs there and very few in and around Sardinia and whilst they are present off the south coast of France, they are not present in the same numbers as in the Balearics and Spain. I'm no expert and I can't say why this is but I would suspect that poor control of sewage discharge from urban areas has something to do with this
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In 2016 and 2017 the jellyfish swarms all the way up Croatia were astonishing and unwelcome compared to previous years - felt like you could walk across them to shore in every bay. Similar in the islands off Sicily last year.
 
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