Madeira Whale Museum

The Madeira Whale Museum in Caniçal, Madeira, showcases the history of whaling and promotes cetacean conservation through interactive exhibits and scientific research.

Planning your visit

Caniçal was Madeira's whaling port. Sperm whales were hunted from open boats off these coasts from the 1940s until 1981, when Portugal ended the practice, and the museum occupies ground where the processing station stood — a history the island now approaches with some discomfort, and which the museum handles directly rather than avoiding.

The building was completely rebuilt and reopened in 2011 with a modern exhibition split between the two subjects. The whaling section covers the boats, harpoons and the industrial process, with recorded testimony from former whalers. The conservation and science section, considerably larger, covers cetacean biology, the species found in Madeiran waters, and the research the museum's associated scientists conduct. A life-size sperm whale model and 3D film anchor it.

The transition from hunting to whale watching is the story, and Madeira's waters are now among the better places in the Atlantic to see cetaceans.

Caniçal is at the island's eastern tip near the Ponta de São Lourenço peninsula. Allow ninety minutes. Bookable options include private tours. Current availability is listed below.