Marine wildlife

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Marine wildlife

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Marine life There are often schools of dolphins, tuna fish, swordfish, pilot whales, and even sharks to be spotted off the coast. © Office du Tourisme des Canaries

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More than a thousand species of marine wildlife can be found around the Canary Islands. There are 500 fish species, 80 marine mammal species and 5 kinds of marine reptiles. Offshore, you can often see dolphins, tuna, swordfish, and short-finned pilot whale shoals, as well as sharks (blue sharks, great white sharks, hammerhead sharks and angel sharks). Near the shore, you will probably see common soles and flathead mullets while in the deeper waters you will observe sardines and mackerel. In the canal between Tenerife and La Gomera, some long-finned pilot whales can be found, while sperm whales have been observed off the Canarian coasts, but you must be patient. The ocean currents can bring different varieties of sea turtles to the coast, but they are hard to spot.