35 Updated Cetacean Red List Assessments published in Nov 2018

Assessments or reassessments of 35 cetacean species, subspecies or populations were published on the IUCN Red List in November 2018. This is in addition to the 10 new assessments published in July 2018, and 19  published in November 2017.  The updated assessments included a number of baleen whales, including the Fin Whale, Blue Whale, Humpback Whale, Sei Whale, Common Minke Whale, Omura’s Whale and Gray Whale (see Table 1 for details).  They also included updated assessments for a large number of the more common odontocetes, including the Spinner Dolphin, Pantropical Spotted Dolphin, Risso’s Dolphin, Fraser’s Dolphin, Striped Dolphin, Atlantic Spotted Dolphin and both Pilot Whales.  For 17 of the updated assessments, the Red List status remained the same as in the previous assessment and for 18 there was a change in classification.  The conservation status of the Fin Whale and the western subpopulation of Gray Whales has improved: the Fin Whale was down-listed from Endangered to Vulnerable and the western subpopulation of Gray Whales from Critically Endangered to Endangered.

The Iloilo-Guimaras subpopulation of Irrawaddy Dolphins, a new listing, is Critically Endangered, as is the Antarctic subspecies of Blue Whales.  Species listed as Endangered were the Sei Whale, Blue Whale and Amazon River Dolphin, and those listed as Vulnerable were the Fin Whale and the Mediterranean sub-population of Cuvier’s Beaked Whales. The Heaviside’s Dolphin, Guiana Dolphin, Burmeister’s Porpoise and False Killer Whale are all now listed as Near Threatened.

Following new guidance from IUCN on how to interpret and apply the Data Deficient category, 14 species previously categorized as Data Deficient are now assigned to a different category: 8 Least Concern, 4 Near Threatened, 1 Vulnerable and 1 Endangered.

Work on updated and new assessments is continuing and we expect more to be published in 2019.

Table 1 – Summary of reassessments or new assessments published in the 2018-2 (Nov) Red List update. (NT = Near Threatened, DD = Data Deficient, CR = Critically Endangered, EN=Endangered, LC=Least Concern)
#
Species/Subspecies
Common name
Taxonomic level
Category
Status change
1
Balaenoptera acutorostrata
Common Minke Whale
Species (global)
LC
 No change
2
Megaptera novaeangliae
Humpback Whale
Species (global)
LC
 No change
3
Balaenoptera musculus
Blue Whale
Species (global)
EN
 No change
4
Balaenoptera borealis
Sei Whale
Species (global)
EN
 No change
5
Eschrichtius robustus
Gray Whale
Species (global)
LC
 No change
6
Eschrichtius robustus
Gray Whale
western subpopulation
EN
 CR->EN
7
Balaenoptera physalus
Fin Whale
Species (global)
VU
 EN->VU
8
Balaenoptera omurai
Omura’s Whale
Species (global)
DD
 No change
9
Caperea marginata
Pygmy Right Whale
Species (global)
LC
 No change
10
Balaenoptera musculus intermedia
Antarctic Blue Whale
Subspecies
CR
 No change
11
Orcaella brevirostris
Irrawaddy Dolphin
Iloilo-Guimaras subpopulation
CR
New listing
12
Ziphius cavirostris
Cuvier’s Beaked Whale
Mediterranean
subpopulation
VU
 DD->VU
13
Sotalia guianensis
Guiana Dolphin
Species (global)
NT
 DD->NT
14
Inia geoffrensis
Amazon River Dolphin
Species (global)
EN
 DD->EN
15
Cephalorhynchus heavisidii
Heaviside’s Dolphin
Species (global)
NT
 DD->NT
16
Feresa attenuate
Pygmy Killer Whale
Species (global)
LC
DD>LC
17
Phocoena spinipinnis
Burmeister’s Porpoise
Species (global)
NT
DD->NT
18
Tasmacetus shepherdi
Shepherd’s Beaked Whale
Species (global)
DD
No change
19
Mesoplodon hotaula
Deraniyagala’s Beaked Whale
Species (global)
DD
New listing
20
Stenella clymene
Clymene Dolphin
Species (global)
LC
DD->LC
21
Phocoena dioptrica
Spectacled Porpoise
Species (global)
LC
DD-> LC
22
Lagenorhynchus obliquidens
Pacific White-sided Dolphin
Species (global)
LC
No change
23
Stenella frontalis
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin
Species (global)
LC
DD->LC
24
Grampus griseus
Risso’s Dolphin
Species (global)
LC
No change
25
Phocoenoides dalli
Dall’s Porpoise
Species (global)
LC
No change
26
Stenella longirostris
Spinner Dolphin
Species (global)
LC
DD->LC
27
Lagenodelphis hosei
Fraser’s Dolphin
Species (global)
LC
No change
28
Lissodelphis peronii
Southern Right Whale Dolphin
Species (global)
LC
DD->LC
29
Stenella attenuata
Pantropical Spotted Dolphin
Species (global)
LC
No change
30
Lagenorhynchus cruciger
Hourglass Dolphin
Species (global)
LC
No change
31
Lissodelphis borealis
Northern Right Whale Dolphin
Species (global)
LC
No change
32
Lagenorhynchus albirostris
White-beaked Dolphin
Species (global)
LC
No change
33
Pseudorca crassidens
False Killer Whale
Species (global)
NT
DD->NT
34
Globicephala macrorhynchus
Short-finned pilot whale
Species (global)
LC
DD->LC
35
Globicephala melas
Long-finned pilot whale
Species (global)
LC
DD->LC
 

The Red List status and documentation for the 89 currently recognised cetacean species as well as 39 subspecies or subpopulations can be found on the IUCN Red List website (redlist.org).  Of the 89 species, 29% are assigned to a threatened category (i.e. CR, EN, VU, NT) and 32% are considered DD although ongoing reassessments of Data Deficient species are likely to result in some of them being reclassified in the near future (see Table 2).

Table 2. Summary information on Red List status as of Nov 2018.

Category
Species
Subspecies/populations
Total
Critically Endangered
3
16
19
Endangered
10
11
21
Vulnerable
7
8
15
Near Threatened
6
0
6
Least Concern
34
0
34
Lower Risk/Conservation Dependent*
0
1
1
Data Deficient
29
3
32
Total
89
39
128

*This is no longer a recognized category and this assessment is out of date.