Finally got some proof the storm petrels still exist around Madeira! The light wind from a very unusual quadrant (south) for summertime brought us a White-faced storm petrel but took away Zino's Petrel... Madeiran storm petrel is still being searched but not yet found... Despite this, we had good diversity of marine life, including a Red-billed Tropicbird! Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis, Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii and a few flying fish were watched in every trip.
16th of July 2026 - 2 to 4 knots of North shifting to NE wind. NW swell up to 1 meter
9 Desertas' petrel Pterodroma deserta - 5 on the way up
3 Pterodroma sp. - didn't fly close enough to ID
5 Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis
Common tern Sterna hirundo
2 Lesser Black-backed gull Larus fuscus
2 Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus puffinus
Common Bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus
2 Loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta
Beaked whales breaching - possibly Cuvier's beaked whale Ziphius cavirostris
15th of July 2026 - S wind up to 6 knots. Long period NW swell up to 1 meter
10 Desertas' petrel Pterodroma deserta - 3 on the way up, one of the sitting amongst Cory’s shearwaters
4 Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus puffinus - 1 sitting among a flock of Cory’s on the way up
8 Common tern Sterna hirundo
7 Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis
2 Pterodroma sp. - flew too far to ID
Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus
Bryde's whale Balaenoptera edeni
Common Bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus
Blue shark Prionace glauca
14th of July 2026 - SW wind up to 7 knots and flat sea
Pterodroma sp. - on the way up
3 Common tern Sterna hirundo
2 Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis
Lesser Black-backed gull Larus fuscus
White-faced storm petrel Pelagodroma marina hypoleuca
Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus puffinus
3 Desertas' petrel Pterodroma deserta
Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus