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# Madeira's pilot whales were residents and travelers at the same time
- URL: https://intelligence.wildlandseco.com/2026-10-21-madeira-pilot-whale-seasonal-aggregation/
- Published: 2026-10-21T14:11:14.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-21T14:11:14.000Z
- Description: Ocean structure helped distinguish seasonal aggregation near an island from Atlantic travel.
- Author: Benjamin Worlund
- Tags: pilot whales, partial migration, telemetry, oceanography, Oceans, Wildlife, #ecological-intelligence, #brief-2026-10-21, #priority-read, #peer-reviewed, #geo-europe

Evidence

Peer-reviewed

Geography

Madeira and Northeast Atlantic

System

Pelagic marine mammal migration

## WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

Sixteen tagged short-finned pilot whales tracked between 2018 and 2024 cumulatively crossed a region of 1.17 million square kilometres, yet stayed near Madeira for a mean consecutive 53 days. State modelling linked area-restricted searching to shallow mixed layers and travel to deeper mixing; photo-identification confirmed mixed island-fidelity classes.

## WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ

Island waters can be valuable seasonal habitat without enclosing a population's range. Marine management should account for time-varying aggregation, dynamic ocean layers and movements across fixed jurisdictional boundaries.

## CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY

Only sixteen tags, uneven observation periods and environmental associations; not proof of oceanographic causation or protection effectiveness.

## SOURCE

Movement Ecology — pilot whale telemetry study (2026)  
[View original evidence ↗](https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-026-00702-5?ref=intelligence.wildlandseco.com)

From the Morning Brief · 2026-10-21

[Read the full Morning Brief →](https://intelligence.wildlandseco.com/morning-brief-2026-10-21/)