IUCN – SSC Cetacean Specialist Group

Sousa

04 Feb 2026

HuDoNet releases Network Action Plan for the Indian Ocean humpback dolphin

The Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin Conservation Network (HuDoNet) has released its first Network Action Plan, a collaboratively developed framework to guide coordinated research, policy engagement and conservation action for Endangered Indian Ocean humpback dolphins (Sousa plumbea) across their range. Indian Ocean humpback dolphins inhabit shallow coastal...

26 Nov 2024

Scientists galvanise to conserve Endangered Indian Ocean humpback dolphins

[caption id="attachment_377088" align="alignright" width="300"] Like these in Dubai, UAE, humpback dolphins live very close to shore, often close to cities (Photographer: Ada Natoli).[/caption] Indian Ocean humpback dolphins (Sousa plumbea) are assessed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning they are among the species of greatest...

07 Oct 2020

Nuremberg Workshop on Ex-situ Options for Cetacean Conservation and the Launch of ICPC

Nuremberg ESOCC Workshop The extinction of the Yangtze River dolphin, or baiji, in China in 2006, and the recent precipitous decline of the vaquita in Mexico, have highlighted the urgency of gaining information and taking action to anticipate and prevent such rapid declines in other threatened...

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...

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...

15 Aug 2016

Collaboration on humpback dolphin (Sousa plumbea) research and conservation in South and East Africa

Humpback dolphins in the Indian Ocean were recently recognised as a distinct species (Sousa plumbea) that occurs in coastal waters from South Africa to India. The species occurs in very near-shore habitat, generally in water less than 30 m deep and typically less than 2...

29 Jun 2016

New SSC Panel: Advising on Dolphin Research and Conservation in China’s Pearl River Estuary

A Steering Committee chaired by Randall Reeves, with Bob Brownell, Rohan Currey, Frances Gulland, Randall Wells and Wang Ding as the other members, was recently established to assist Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in a long-term effort to support management measures and conservation-related...

03 Jul 2014

Enforcement paying off for the Atlantic humpback dolphin of Western Africa

Like many threatened species, the Vulnerable Atlantic humpback dolphin (Sousa teuszii) is under pressure from anthropogenic activities. Industrial and commercial scale fishing forces locally-based artisanal fishers to within 200 metres of the beach – using their nets in critical habitat for this poorly understood marine...

21 Apr 2014

There are four (maybe more) separate species of Sousa

By Peter Corkeron (20th April 2014) Dolphins in the genus Sousa, the humpback dolphins, occur in coastal waters of West Africa, around the Indian Ocean, and in SE Asia and Australia. A recent scientific paper starts to clarify the number of species in the genus. Martin...

Sousa

HuDoNet releases Network Action Plan for the Indian Ocean humpback dolphin

Scientists galvanise to conserve Endangered Indian Ocean humpback dolphins

Nuremberg Workshop on Ex-situ Options for Cetacean Conservation and the Launch of ICPC

2017 Cetacean Red List Update

Initiative to save Taiwanese white dolphins from extinction

Collaboration on humpback dolphin (Sousa plumbea) research and conservation in South and East Africa

New SSC Panel: Advising on Dolphin Research and Conservation in China’s Pearl River Estuary

Enforcement paying off for the Atlantic humpback dolphin of Western Africa

There are four (maybe more) separate species of Sousa

HuDoNet releases Network Action Plan for the Indian Ocean humpback dolphin

Joint visual and acoustic survey finds vaquitas surviving and reproducing, mostly in and near the sanctuary

Red List Updates Published for Sperm Whales and Lahille’s Bottlenose Dolphins

The End of a Quadrennium – the IUCN World Conservation Congress

June 2025 Update on Important Marine Mammal Areas

Emerging Concern for Gray Whales in the Eastern North Pacific

International Vaquita Recovery Team Reconvenes

Population-specific Data and Policy Support Can Effectively Mitigate Entanglement: a South African example

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IUCN – SSC Cetacean Specialist Group

LATEST UPDATES FROM BLUESKY

Latest Post

HuDoNet releases Network Action Plan for the Indian Ocean humpback dolphin

Joint visual and acoustic survey finds vaquitas surviving and reproducing, mostly in and near the sanctuary

Red List Updates Published for Sperm Whales and Lahille’s Bottlenose Dolphins