Marinelife, the marine conservation research charity, is continuing its marine wildlife research and education in the offshore waters of the Atlantic through its partnership with Swan Hellenic Cruises.

Marinelife has been researching the waters of the European Atlantic for whales, dolphins and seabirds from large vessels such as commercial ferries and container ships for over a decade. Such vessels offer an opportunity to continue our ongoing research in areas which are difficult to reach with small vessels. The partnership with Swan Hellenic Cruises offers an opportunity to research area of the oceans which are little studied, whilst simultaneously allowing us to provide passengers with information about the wildlife they are seeing and the threats it faces.

Marinelife’s Chairman and its Community and Operations Officer are on board the Swan Hellenic’s cruise ship Minerva now. The ship sailed from Madeira earlier this month on route for Buenos Aires, passing close to the Canaries, Cape Verde Islands and Fernando de Noronha before reaching the coast of Brazil.

Whilst on board, the Marinelife team have been recording all sightings and engaging the passengers through a programme of presentations and deck watches. The team are writing a blog on the Marinelife website to keep the general public up to date with the range of exciting encounters which include many hundreds of dolphins of multiple species, Humpback Whale mother and calf pairs and many species of seabird.

Marinelife researcher Adrian Shephard said: “This second cruise with Swan Hellenic has provided further insight into the species of whales, dolphins and seabirds in the offshore waters of the mid-Atlantic and we thank Swan Hellenic for this opportunity”.