BACKGROUND: The Marine Environment Research Association is a non-profit, non-governmental organization focused on the research and conservation of marine species, running an ongoing study of cetaceans in southern Portugal (Algarve) and Boa Vista, Cape Verde. This project aims to obtain baseline information on species occurrence, behavior, and social structure of the local cetacean populations in order to obtain scientific data to support conservation measures and inform marine management policies. The main species observed are Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and the rough-toothed (Steno bredanensis) although more than 14 species of cetacean were describe to the Cape Verde region. Sea turtle could be also find in the ocean, mostly the Green turtle (Chelonia mydas), Loggerhead tu