Dolphin & Whale Research in Tenerife, Canary Islands

Monitor wild dolphins and pilot whales in the Teno-Rasca Marine Reserve off Tenerife — Europe's first Whale Heritage Site. Whether you come for two weeks or a full season, you are directly on the water, on the boats and in the data, alongside MutatioMare's own research team.

Up to 30 cetacean species use these waters: pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins most days, with orcas, sperm whales and false killer whales recorded, along with loggerhead turtles. Your first week includes practical training in cetacean identification and survey methods, taught as you go. Dorsal fins are as distinctive as fingerprints, and reading them is how the team works out how many individuals are out there. On boat surveys you photograph animals at sea, log their behavior and record their calls on hydrophones, then match the images to known individuals and log them in the database. The catalogue MutatioMare has built since 2021 now holds more than 600 identified short-finned pilot whales, and is shared with RedPROMAR, the Canary Islands government's biodiversity network.

You also survey boat traffic from land, measuring the pressure five million annual visitors put on it, join beach cleans and biodiversity surveys, and support environmental and conservation education.

Fieldwork is Monday to Friday, with weekends free to explore the island.

You stay in shared dormitories in a hostel a short walk from the beach, with staff on site. Accommodation, weekday meals, airport transfers, in-country support and all project costs including boat trips are covered, and your fee also funds the research you take part in.

Starts every second Sunday, 2 to 24 weeks. Age 18+.

MutatioMare is a Canarian nonprofit based in Adeje, working in the reserve since 2021. It is one of nine independent organizations in The Impact Network, which gives small local nonprofits the training, standards and systems larger operators have, so the organization you volunteer with is the one doing the work.