IUCN – SSC Cetacean Specialist Group

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IUCN – SSC Cetacean Specialist Group / Articles posted by admin (Page 3)
15 Dec 2017

2017 Cetacean Red List Update

Assessments or reassessments of 19 cetacean species, subspecies and populations were published on the IUCN Red List in 2017.  These included all four species of humpback dolphin, the Irrawaddy dolphin, two species of finless porpoise, the South Asian River dolphin, the beluga, the narwhal, and...

02 Oct 2017

Update on Mekong River dams and river dolphins

As mentioned in an article posted on this website on 8 February 2017, the construction of large dams in the mainstem of the Mekong River in Laos and Cambodia represents an existential threat to the small, Critically Endangered freshwater population of Orcaella brevirostris. Following the...

18 Aug 2017

Massive large whale mortality event in Chile

In March 2015, by far the largest-ever reported mass mortality of baleen whales took place along the coast of southern Chile. At least 343 animals, primarily sei whales, died.  The discovery was made during a scuba diving expedition aimed to inventory the benthic fauna of...

19 Jun 2017

Initiative to save Taiwanese white dolphins from extinction

Taiwanese white dolphins (Sousa chinensis taiwanensis) live in shallow nearshore waters along the west coast of Taiwan (= eastern Taiwan Strait). Researchers from Taiwan and elsewhere have been studying this small and declining population (currently < 75 individuals) since its discovery in 2002 (Wang et...

11 May 2017

Vaquita on the verge of extinction

CIRVA (Comité Internacional para la Recuperación de la Vaquita) met again in April 2017, just 5 months after the committee's last meeting. The meeting report, which was officially released today at the IWC Scientific Committee meeting in Slovenia, points out that the vaquita is on...

08 May 2017

Lost Indus dolphins in the Beas River, India

Indus River dolphins (Platanista gangetica minor) inhabit the Indus River system of Pakistan and India.  Over the last 150 years, numerous irrigation barrages (gated dams) that divert river water into canals have been constructed in this system.  As a result, the range of Indus dolphins...

19 Apr 2017

Workshop on Important Marine Mammal Areas in the South Pacific

The IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force invited 23 marine mammal researchers and other experts from 14 Pacific countries to Apia, Samoa, for the second in a series of regional Important Marine Mammal Area (IMMA) workshops, 27-31 March 2017. This followed the first IMMA...

10 Apr 2017

Announcement of the Second Indian Ocean Cetacean Symposium

The Second Indian Ocean Cetacean Symposium will be held by the Marine Research Centre (www.mrc.gov.mv) in the Maldives in 2019.  This is to follow on from the first Indian Ocean Cetacean Symposium that was held almost a decade ago, in July 2009, (see report here),...

03 Mar 2017

New Infographic from Arabian Sea Whale Network

After months of planning, the Arabian Sea Whale Network (ASWN) has finalized an infographic designed to raise awareness of the unique nature of Arabian Sea humpback whales and the urgent conservation challenges they face.  The infographic is intended for dissemination to a wide range of stakeholders, including...