Wild Canaries: Pilot Whales, the Blue Chaffinch of Teide and the Blind Crabs of Jameos

The Canary Islands are an Atlantic archipelago of volcanoes and forest, and much of their wildlife is found nowhere else: on Teide, Spain’s national-parks service counts 44 per cent of the invertebrate species as Macaronesian endemics, and offshore Tenerife’s waters hold up to 21 species of whale and dolphin (Tenerife Tourism).

Few places in Europe keep so much life of their own. The Canary Islands rose from the ocean as volcanoes, and on each island plants and animals have gone their own way: a finch on Teide, lizards in the lava, a forest on La Gomera that UNESCO likens to the vegetation of the Tertiary.

This is the wild side of the Canaries: the whales and dolphins off Tenerife, the life of Teide National Park, the laurel forest of Garajonay and a crab that lives in the dark at Jameos del Agua.

Whales and dolphins

Tenerife’s waters are home to up to 21 species of whale and dolphin, from the blue whale to the orca, and the island has resident populations of bottlenose dolphins and short-finned pilot whales, seen off its shores all year round; other species are easiest to see in May and June (Tenerife Tourism).

Go only with a company that flies the “Blue Boat” flag, the mark of an authorised whale-watching operator. The rules are strict: boats keep at least 60 metres away, stay no longer than 30 minutes and never let anyone swim with or feed the animals (Tenerife Tourism).

The life of Teide

Teide National Park is the largest and oldest national park in the Canaries. Its invertebrates are of great scientific interest: 44 per cent of the species are Macaronesian endemics and 7 per cent live only in the park (MITECO).

Among the vertebrates are the Tenerife lizard (Gallotia galloti), the Tenerife gecko and skink, and the blue chaffinch (Fringilla teydea teydea), a subspecies found only on Tenerife. In late spring the red tajinaste flowers among the lava, and the Teide violet grows above 2,200 metres (MITECO).

Pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins live off Tenerife all year round.

The laurel forest

On La Gomera, laurel forest covers some 70 per cent of Garajonay National Park, kept lush by springs and streams: a vegetation resembling that of the Tertiary, largely vanished from southern Europe (UNESCO).

Blind crabs in the lava

At Jameos del Agua on Lanzarote, a section of the La Corona volcanic tube, the interior lake is home to a blind crab, an endemic species adapted to darkness (CACT). Look down into the still water from the path: the tiny white crabs show against the black rock.

Feature: El Hierro

The youngest, westernmost and southernmost of the islands, El Hierro was declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2000 and a Geopark in 2014 (El Hierro tourism).

Did you know? Did you know? Teide National Park is the most visited park in Spain’s national-parks network (MITECO).

Our advice

Our advice: book whale watching only with a “Blue Boat” operator, walk Teide early with water and a layer, keep to the paths in Garajonay, and never throw anything into the lake at Jameos del Agua.