IUCN – SSC Cetacean Specialist Group

Unusual mortality

IUCN – SSC Cetacean Specialist Group / Unusual mortality
10 Aug 2019

Alert on the Mediterranean sperm whale subpopulation

Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara has attracted our attention to recent events concerning the Mediterranean subpopulation of sperm whales, which has been red-listed as Endangered since 2006 based on an inferred continuing decline of an already reduced population (assumed to be in the low to mid...

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...

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...

02 Oct 2013

A 2008 whale mass stranding in Madagascar linked to sonar mapping for the first time

[caption id="attachment_1522" align="alignright" width="300"] An alien environment for a deep diving species. Photographer: Tim Collins[/caption] In 2008, approximately 100 melon-headed whales stranded in the Loza Lagoon system in Madagascar. The response effort was multi-faceted and included local people, government officials, conservation organisations and marine mammal experts....

06 May 2013

Why are so many whales dying in Argentine Patagonia?

Press Release Issued on 25 April 2013, by the Southern Right Whale Health Monitoring Program. Contact: Mariano Sironi – msironi(a)icb.org.ar; Max Pulsinelli – mpulsinelli(a)wcs.org The southern right whales that use Península Valdés, Argentina as a nursery ground have suffered the largest mortality event ever recorded for...

30 Mar 2013

Indonesia’s new stranding network

Indonesia has one of the longest coastlines in the world – over 80,000km. About 35 species of cetaceans, plus the dugong, are known to occur in the region, and a myriad of human activities take place in the marine environment.  Therefore the country is likely...