Fred Olsen Cruise Lines has revealed that in 2022, guests sailing on its ships made more than 4,400 wildlife sightings.

The initiative is part of ORCA’s cruise conservationist programme, which uses the data collected during cruise itineraries to identify and monitor whale and dolphin populations around the world.

The most frequent wildlife spotted was the common dolphin, sighted 296 times, with the total number of individual dolphins spotted being 1,996.

Other sightings included humpback whales, orca, a blue whale and the Cuvier’s beaked whale, described as the deepest diving animal on the planet.

Fred Olsen said it will have ORCA’s cruise conservationists on board for 16 sailings in 2023.

Sightings ‘important’ for wildlife conservation

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines journey experience coordinator James Moss said: “Spotting native wildlife is something that makes a holiday truly special.

“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.

“We’re looking forward to another successful year working together in 2023.”

ORCA director of fundraising and operations Steve Jones added: “These sightings show the absolutely phenomenal range of habitats that our ocean conservationists can study aboard Fred Olsen itineraries.

“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.”