ECCO Ocean is the first licensed dolphin watching agency operation from Lisbon. We are a private and individual initiative led by a marine biologist that studies dolphins and whales. ECCO Ocean aims to assist ocean protection through scientific research, running on a strategy where its research is self-financed through ecotourism revenue. Our ecotours are conducted on our sailing trimaran the
egaptera, which will sail fast and under minimum engine use. The ecotours are mainly focused in dolphin watching expeditions, which is our speciality and our main study subject. On these expeditions will be also possible to find seabirds and natural landscapes present in the Fossil Cliff's Protected Landscape and in the Nature Parque of Arrábida. Expeditions far from the Sea comprise in birdwatching in the Tagus Estuary Natural Reserve and upriver. For those less adventurous we present a tour to see the city that was built to be seen from the river. ECCO Ocean’s founder was inspired as a child by The Magic School Bus Tv series, so in accordance, our speeches aim natural and science related subjects, such as biology, oceanography, geology, astronomy, pre-history, age of discoveries, physics, chemistry and of course, boats (which are mostly physics). All our tours, appetizers, beverages, meals and even our background activities are intended to have a minimum impact on the environment and those that aren’t, we probably are working on a solution. We conciliate various fields of science, such as biology, chemistry and physics to reduce our footprint on the planet and better understand the marine environment. These mainly consist of developing an innovative, efficient and sustainable research vessel. Our flagship RV Megaptera is already an efficient boat, but we intend to make a proof of concept of a vessel that can efficiently run on renewable energies. Providing speed with low or no engine power, is crucial for reducing the Ocean noise that affects the marine mammal species. This is a diverse and inter and multidisciplinary initiative in which all activities are always somehow connected to the Sea.
