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I didn't see any mammals during my 24 hours in Lisbon but others have sent me some information on mammal watching in Madeira.

There is good cetacean watching off Madeira. See the whale watching page for detals (Bryde's Whale and Atlantic Spotted Dolphins are regular along with other species).

Mediterranean Monk Seals are also apparently findable, though not common, if one heads to the Desertas Island. Mattia Altieri from Italy wrote me about his encounter with one there.

The best encounter was however with an exceptionally rare mammal: the Monk Seal. During a trip to Madeira, I went with a boat to Desertas Islands for a birding day. I asked the skipper of the boat "Is possible to see the Monk Seals?" He answered "Very very difficult. Only once every ten trips". We arrived in the main bay of Desertas, stopped the boat and we saw immediately a Monk Seal just 10 meters from the boat! And he was not alone, there were 2 Monk Seals! A female with full grown cubs, they played near us. Suddendly an old male came and the Seals, after almost an hour, swam away. The skipper went crazy and took many pics. It was September 2006 and, even after 3 years, he said that trip remained inimitable, the best of his life. And I think I witnessed a thing that, sadly, would not be more possible in the next century.

He took a boat trip with Ventura do Mar.