The Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ fleet and the marine charity ORCA made more than 4,400 wildlife sightings in 2022, according to a press release.

James Moss, journey experience coordinator at Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines said: “Spotting native wildlife is something that makes a holiday truly special, and we have a really unique opportunity as a cruise line to be able to offer guests the chance to have this experience directly from the deck as they sail between destinations.

“It has been a real privilege to work with ORCA this year, with their team of Ocean Conservationists helping our guests not only to spot marine mammals but to learn more about the wildlife they spot and to play a part in capturing important data too. We’re looking forward to another successful year working together in 2023”

The wildlife sightings are part of ORCA’s Cruise Conservationist program, hosted aboard Fred. Olsen ships. The most frequent wildlife spotted was the common dolphin (296 times) while the total number of individual dolphins spotted was 1,996. Other sightings included humpback whales, orcas, a blue whale and the deepest diving animal known, the Cuvier’s beaked whale, which can dive to depths of nearly 3,000m.

Steve Jones, director of fundraising and operations at ORCA, said: “These sightings show the absolutely phenomenal range of habitats that our Ocean Conservationists can study aboard Fred. Olsen itineraries, monitoring areas that it would be otherwise impossible to reach.

“The data we’ve collected in 2022 will help give us important insights into the lives of these whales, dolphins and porpoises, and we can understand better than ever the protections they need to safeguard them for future generations.

“A huge thank you to everyone at Fred. Olsen for welcoming our teams on board, and also to the thousands of guests who lent us their eyes during our time at sea in 2022 – I’m sure we will see many of you in 2023 and beyond!”

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines will be welcoming ORCA’s Cruise Conservationists on 16 sailings in 2023 including:

• The Bolette’s ten-night Uncrowded Iceland cruise, departing from Newcastle on March 27, 2023;
• The Bolette’s seven-night Scenic Isles and Lochs of Scotland cruise, departing from Newcastle on May 13, 2023;
• The Balmoral’s 15-night Rugged and Remote Spitsbergen with the Midnight Sun cruise, departing from Rosyth on July 19, 2023;
• The Bolette’s 15-night Volcanic Islands of the Canaries, Azores and Madeira cruise, departing from Southampton on October 14, 2023.