A patrol boat picked up 183 people from a long wooden canoe known as a pirogue on Tuesday off the western village of Djiffer, the navy said on X.

The vessel was the second in a week to depart from Senegal's Saloum delta -- a network of channels, islands and mangrove swamps inscribed on UNESCO's list of World Heritage.

A boat which had left the delta carrying 230 would-be migrants was intercepted off the coast of the capital Dakar between Saturday and Sunday, the navy said on X.

Tuesday's operation brings the total number of migrants intercepted in the last 10 days to 582, according to social media posts from the navy following three interventions.

Senegal's coasts are one of the main departure points for scores of migrants hoping to reach Europe every year, many heading for the Spanish Canary Islands.

The Atlantic route is particularly perilous because of the strong currents, and every year officials record thousands of deaths and disappearances from overloaded, often unseaworthy boats.

Senegal's navy recovered at least 30 bodies from a boat discovered adrift off the coast of Dakar in late September.

At least 39 people also died in mid-September when a boat carrying migrants sank off the western port town of Mbour.

Following the tragedy, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye vowed to "relentlessly track down" migrant traffickers and called on young people to stay in the West African country.

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