Dolphins near Canasvieiras and Jurerê: who they are and how to watch them with respect

Dolphins in the Baía Norte and around the island

There are dolphins in the Baía Norte (North Bay) and around Santa Catarina Island, and the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) has studied them since the 1990s. The studies show something more specific than the idea that you only need to look out from Canasvieiras or Jurerê: the resident Guiana dolphin (boto-cinza) lives on the mainland side, and the bottlenose dolphin appears along the whole island coast, but in small groups and less often in the bay.

We found no research that counts sightings made from those two beaches. That is why the title says near, and why the text separates what was measured from what remains a gap.

Who the dolphins of the region are

A ten-year study in the Baía Norte records only three species of small cetaceans in the bay: Guiana dolphin, bottlenose dolphin and franciscana, the last seen only three times.

Lahille's dolphin is the coastal subspecies of southern Brazil. According to the Convention on Migratory Species, it is larger than the open-sea bottlenose dolphin, with a smaller dorsal fin and a longer beak, and the two forms occupy neighbouring ranges in Brazil and Uruguay. The studies cited here do not separate subspecies, so we cannot tell which form was seen. The same document summarises estimates from the Gephyreus Project for 2019 to 2022, with wide margins of error: between 8 and 24 Lahille's dolphins in the Baía Norte, depending on the period, and about 316 across southern Brazil and Uruguay.

The Guiana dolphin, the resident of the bay

The Guiana dolphins of the Baía Norte live at the southern limit of the species' range. Between 2000 and 2003, UFSC counted at least 60 animals, a figure the authors consider an underestimate. They used about 50 km² on the mainland side and were not seen in the eastern sector of the bay, the island side.

The group's area of use was about 8 km² in spring and summer and about 32 km² in winter, when food appears scarcer. The Anhatomirim Environmental Protection Area, created in 1992 to protect these animals, covers part of it. What the surveys recorded:

• Feeding: the most frequent behaviour, on fish such as mullet and anchovies, which the bottlenose dolphin also hunts.
• Travelling: feeding falls through the day and travelling rises, and it also rises in the cold months.
• Large groups: an average of 29 animals, from 1 to 59, larger in the morning.

The bottlenose dolphin, the visitor along the coast

Between 1989 and 2005, UFSC researchers gathered 71 groups of bottlenose dolphins in every month of the year around the island, in sheltered bays and exposed beaches, 17 of them near the surf of sandy beaches on the eastern side. The average group had about 8 animals (the most common size was 2), and the data suggest, in the authors' words, that the species is common on the island coast. Outside the boats, sightings were mostly made from points on land, without systematic effort, so no frequency can be calculated.

Inside the bay the picture changes. In 226 boat surveys between 1993 and 2002, the bottlenose dolphin appeared in 30, against all but six for the Guiana dolphin. There were 36 sightings, of 1 to 16 animals, and the authors describe it as less frequent there. On the open-sea beaches of the island, they say, it was seen frequently at almost all of them, without naming which.

When and where the chances are better

The research answers only in part.

Caring for the bay: what helps the dolphins

Because it lives close to the coast, the Guiana dolphin depends on clean water, well-kept estuaries and boats that move with care. ICMBio lists water quality, the condition of estuaries and boat traffic among the factors that matter for the species, and notes that it is very sensitive to fishing nets precisely because it lives so near the coast. That is why the watching rules below matter so much: keep your distance, slow down and leave no litter in the water.

How to watch with respect

Law 7.643/1987 protects cetaceans in Brazilian waters and prohibits fishing for them or any intentional harassment of them. Since August 2026, Joint Ordinance Ibama/ICMBio no. 4/2026 has regulated cetacean watching and repealed Ordinances 117/1996 and 24/2002. We read the text in the Official Gazette of 11 August 2026 and in two summaries. The text speaks of cetaceans, without using the word dolphin, and the summaries disagree about them. According to one blog, Joint Ordinance no. 6/2026 (September) added a 300 m rule for a third boat; we did not open that text. Check before running tours. Inside protected areas the managing body's rules also apply.

• On the beach: the rule we read does not cover people watching from the sand. Look from afar, without wading in to get closer.
• In the water: swimmers and divers must keep 100 m; in a kayak or on a board, move away in the opposite direction if the animals approach. Do not chase them, touch them or throw anything into the water.
• By boat, kayak or SUP: slow down, keep the distance in the table and stop the activity if the animals change their behaviour.

If you find an animal that needs help

Call 0800 642 3341, the line of the Santos Basin Beach Monitoring Project (PMP-BS) for live, weakened or dead marine animals. In Florianópolis, R3 Animal, which according to the press runs the monitoring, can be reached on +55 48 3018 2316.

• Keep your distance: do not approach, do not touch and do not try to return it to the sea, as the PMP-BS advises according to the press.
• Give the location: report quickly, as the team says speed makes a difference. When calling, say which beach, a landmark and whether the animal looks alive (our suggestion, not the programme's).
• Animal found lifeless: report it too: a necropsy helps establish the cause of death.

If a small dolphin is caught in a net, call and wait for the team, without trying to cut the net: the ICMBio disentanglement rules we located deal with large cetaceans and require authorisation.

In short

The region has dolphins close by: the Guiana dolphin lives in the bay all year and the bottlenose dolphin moves around the whole island. Seeing one from Canasvieiras or Jurerê beach depends on the day and the place, and no study says how often it happens, so it pays to watch patiently and keep your distance.