On board the Pride of Bilbao
The Pride of Bilbao was built in 1986 and has space for 2500 passengers, and 600 cars on its 8 decks.
While you are on the Pride of Bilbao, you will never be bored as P&O Ferries have provided some great
leisure facilities including a children's play area, three restaurants, bars, cinema, casino, swimming pool, fitness centre, and
a wildlife officer to help passengers spot whales and dolphins as the ship passes through the Bay of Biscay.
The Pride of Bilbao sails every three days. The crossing time is 35 hours on the outward journey and 29 hours on the return.
Book a Portsmouth Bilbao ferry crossing
Pride of Bilbao Whale Watching
Since 1995 P&O Ferries has supported scientists from the Biscay Dolphin Research Programme who travel on the Pride of Bilbao to monitor whales and dolphins in the English Channel and Bay of Biscay.
On every sailing there is a wildlife officer who provides free presentations and assisted deck watches for all passengers. He also provides a talk for children in the Dolphin Club. So far the work has resulted in 21 species of whales and dolphins being recorded, representing more than 30,000 individual animals. They include fin whales, pygmy killer whales, pilot whales, minke whales, Cuvier's beaked whales, and even the legendary Blue whale. All kinds of dolphins are spotted regularly riding the bow waves, they include the striped, risso and bottlenose variety.
The Pride of Bilbao also carries measuring devices on behalf of oceanographers from Southampton University who monitor water quality and temperature.
The FerryBox equipment was first fitted on the P&O Pride of Bilbao in April 2002. Since then data has been transmitted to SOC using the Orbcomm satellite system and displayed on the webpage in real time
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