West Africa Pelagic

Day 1: Embark and sail off the coast of Santiago, Cape Verde Islands

Boarding will commence in the early afternoon at the port in Praia, the capital of the Cape Verde Islands on the island of Santiago.

We will then cruise along the west coast of Santiago before setting a course for the small island of Raso. These waters will be an excellent opportunity to find our first seabirds and cetaceans of the voyage and there should be plenty to enjoy enroute, especially in the evening when the shearwaters and other seabirds begin to return to their breeding islands after a day feeding out at sea.

With the volcanic cone of Fogo off to our port side, we will be looking out for both Cape Verde and Boyd’s Shearwaters plus Fea’s and Bulwer’s Petrels. These waters are also home to an exciting variety of cetaceans including Short-finned Pilot Whale, Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin with the chance of also finding Pantropical Spotted Dolphin and Sperm Whale.

Day 2: Sail offshore from Raso, Sao Nicolao and Sao Vicente, Cape Verde Islands

We will spend the morning offshore from the small island of Raso which is located in the northwest of the archipelago between the larger islands of Sâo Nicolau and Sâo Vicente. Cape Verde Shearwaters nest in large numbers on Raso, along with Boyd’s Shearwater and both Cape Verde and White-faced Storm Petrels, so we stand an excellent chance of good views of all these species.

Our main target for the morning, however, will be Red-billed Tropicbird which also nests on Raso and can often be seen here gliding along the coastline. Brown Booby is another key species which is frequently seen around the island.

If the conditions are suitable, we may be able to launch the ship’s zodiacs to go in search of the endemic Raso Lark. Whilst landings are not permitted, previous voyages have seen this highly localised species from the water so we will hope to repeat this.

By midday, we will need to be heading northeast and away from the Cape Verde Islands and towards the continental shelf of West Africa. We have a small chance of finding the Western Palearctic’s only population of Magnificent Frigatebirds (which now number just a handful of individuals) but there should be plenty of commoner seabirds to enjoy, plus opportunities to look for cetaceans.

Day 3: At sea heading for shelf edge off Mauritania

The day will largely be spent cruising over deep water as we transit from the Cape Verde Islands to the West African shelf edge off Mauritania. Seabirds and cetaceans will be the order of the day and we can expect to find an interesting selection of seabirds as we head northeast.

Travelling over the deeper water means we may also encounter a different range of cetaceans with chances for a selection of beaked whales, as well as Sperm Whale.

Days 4 – 5: Sailing along the shelf edge off Mauritania and the Western Sahara

We should reach the shelf edge offshore from Nouadihbou in Mauritania in the morning and will spend two days cruising north.

These rich waters are rarely visited by naturalists so we should ‘expect the unexpected’, as well as enjoying good views of plenty of the commoner species. All four species of northern skuas are likely, i.e. Great, Arctic, Long-tailed and Pomarine, and we may well see flocks of Grey Phalaropes, along with Sabine’s Gulls, European Storm Petrels, Kittiwakes and Black Terns.

These northern breeders are sometimes joined by species from the south, such as Wilson’s Storm Petrel and Sooty Shearwater and, if we are extremely fortunate, perhaps even South Polar Skua, a species which it has recently been established heads north into these waters during our spring and summer months.

Any of the rarer seabirds breeding on the Macaronesian Islands are also possible, along with an exciting range of cetaceans which could include Fin, Sperm, Northern Bottlenose and Cuvier’s Beaked Whales, Common Dolphin and the outside chance of rarer species such as Rough-toothed Dolphin, Blainville’s Beaked Whale and Pygmy Sperm Whale. Other pelagic wildlife to look out for includes Sunfish and even the occasional turtle.

Day 6: Sailing through the Canary Islands

We plan to explore the deepwater channels around Gomera in the Canary Islands which are a known hotspot for whales and dolphins. The inaugural 2011 voyage saw Sperm and Short-finned Pilot Whales here plus a number of dolphins including Rough-toothed.

We will also now be in range for Barolo’s Shearwater, another relatively recent split from Little Shearwater, plus we should expect more Cory’s Shearwaters, Bulwer’s Petrels and White-faced Storm Petrels.

Day 7: Selvagens Islands

We hope to reach the remote Selvagens in the afternoon and should first see Selvagen Pequina, however, our intended destination is Selvagen Grande where we plan to spend the evening cruising and looking for seabirds.

These isolated islands, which lie 80 miles north of the Canaries, are perhaps the ultimate destination for anyone interested in Western Palaearctic ‘tubenoses. Huge numbers of petrels and shearwaters breed here, with estimated populations of approximately 15,000 Cory‘s Shearwaters, 5,000 Bulwer’s Petrels, 2,000 Barolo’s Shearwaters, 60,000 White-faced Storm Petrels and 1,500 pairs of Madeiran Storm Petrels.

Many of these species gather offshore in the evening before returning to their burrows after dark, so our evening cruise should be one of the ornithological highlights of this holiday. If conditions permit, we plan to launch the zodiacs for an evening zodiac cruise to enjoy the seabirds and cetaceans at close range.

Day 8: Desertas Islands

We will spend the morning at sea continuing our quest for seabirds and cetaceans but by the afternoon hope to be closing in on the Desertas Islands. These remote islands are part of the Madeiran archipelago and since 1990 have been a nature reserve and designated a Special Protection Area for their important seabird populations.

As a result of this status, the islands and surrounding seas (to a depth of 100 metres) are protected and the reserve is divided into two zones with access strictly forbidden to the southern half of Deserta Grande and Bugio, even by boat.

Despite being unable to get particularly close, we can still expect to see many of the species which breed in the area, with great chances for more Cory’s Shearwaters, Bulwer’s Petrels and Madeiran Storm Petrels which all breed here, along with the endemic Desertas Petrel.

We also have a good chance to observe more cetaceans with the possibilities including Common Dolphin, Bottlenose Dolphin, Short-finned Pilot Whale and perhaps a Fin or Bryde’s Whale. Sperm Whales are the most frequently encountered large whale in these waters and these spend most of the year feeding on squid which they catch in the deep-water canyons that surround the islands.

Another highly endangered species we will hope to find is Mediterranean Monk Seal, as there is a small population (of less than one hundred individuals) which live around the islands.

Day 9: Arrive Funchal, Madeira

We plan to spend the early morning approximately 20 nautical miles north of Madeira in an area where Zino’s Petrel (an endemic breeder on Madeira) is known to forage and we will hope to find this last speciality before heading to Funchal, the capital of Madeira.

The ship should arrive around midday and once clearance has taken place, everyone will disembark.

The Ship: M/V Plancius

Plancius was built in 1976 as an oceanographic research vessel and was used by the Royal Dutch Navy until June 2004 when it was purchased by Oceanwide Expeditions. It is Dutch flagged and has been converted into a passenger vessel which fully complies with the latest SOLAS Regulations.

The ship carries 108 passengers in 50 cabins, all of which have private facilities (ie toilet, sink and shower). There are four quadruple porthole cabins, nine twin porthole cabins, 25 twin cabins with a window and two twin deluxe cabins (all of which are c.15 m²), and ten superior cabins (c.21 m²).

All the cabins have lower berths (either two single beds or one queen-size bed) except for the four quadruple cabins (2 bunk beds).

There is a restaurant, lecture room and spacious observation lounge (with bar) with large windows offering full panorama views.

The ship has large open deck spaces (with full walk around possibilities on deck 4) providing excellent opportunities to enjoy the scenery and wildlife.

Plancius has ten Mark V inflatable zodiacs and two gangways.

• West African Pelagic Trip Report 2018