Red List Status of Cetaceans

Updated October 2025

Below we present a summary of the Red List status of cetaceans based on the most recent edition of the Red List – 2024-2. All assessments use the Red List Criteria and follow the Guidelines, which results in a few categorizations that may misrepresent the current level of threat (detailed below). We provide a summary of the global cetacean species, subspecies and subpopulation assessments, but do not provide information on regional or national Red Lists which are separate processes.

From 2017 to 2021, the CSG reassessed nearly all currently recognized species of cetaceans for the IUCN Red List. Regular updates regarding progress on this task have been provided on this website (see 2022, 2021, and 2020 updates on red listing progress). 

Current Red List Status of Cetaceans (in 2025-2 Red List edition)

As of 2025, a total of 93 (of 94) cetacean species and an additional 10 subspecies and 31 subpopulations have been evaluated for the IUCN Red List. Subspecies and subpopulations are generally assessed only if they are threatened. 

• One in 4 cetacean species (26% of 93) is currently assessed as threatened with extinction (i.e., Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), or Vulnerable (VU))

• Another 11% of species are assessed as Near Threatened (NT)

• Just over half of all cetacean species are assessed as Least Concern (53% of 93)

• 11% remain Data Deficient

2023 Red List Status of Cetaceans Publication

Reassessment of the majority of cetacean species was completed between 2018 and 2021. The information contained in the updated Red List assessments was collated to provide an overview of the global Red List status, which was published in 2023 in Conservation Biology, in a paper entitled ‘Red List Status and Extinction Risk of the World’s Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises’. The key findings of the paper are shown in the bullet points below. To aid in communication of the findings and to highlight important issues to decision makers and the public the infographic below was also developed. This infographic is available for download.

Key Findings in Braulik et al. (2023) Red List publication

• One in 4 cetacean species (26% of 92) was assessed as being threatened (i.e., Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), or Vulnerable (VU)) and 11% as Near Threatened (NT).
• Ten percent of cetacean species were assessed as Data Deficient (DD), and it was predicted that some of these species will prove to be threatened.
• The proportion of threatened cetaceans has increased over time: 15% in 1991, 19% in 2008 and 26% in 2021.
• The assessed conservation status of 20% of species has worsened from 2008 to 2021, and only 3 moved into categories of lesser threat.
• Cetacean species with small geographic ranges were more likely to be listed as threatened than those with large ranges.
• Cetaceans that occur in freshwater (100% of species) and coastal habitats (60% of species) were under the greatest threat.
• Analysis of odontocete species’ distributions revealed a global hotspot of threatened small cetaceans in Southeast Asia, in an area encompassing the Coral Triangle and extending through nearshore waters of the Bay of Bengal, northern Australia and Papua New Guinea and into the coastal waters of China.

Threatened Species

Five cetacean species are listed as critically endangered:

• The Yangtze River dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer) may already be functionally extinct 
• The vaquita (Phocoena sinus), a porpoise resident to the upper Gulf of California in Mexico
• The Atlantic humpback dolphin (Sousa teuszii), which occurs only in nearshore shallow waters of the west coast of Africa 
• The North Atlantic Right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), which occurs only on the east coasts of Canada and the USA
• The recently described Rice’s whale (Balaenoptera ricei) in the Gulf of Mexico

Nineteen subspecies or subpopulations of cetacean are also currently classified as Critically Endangered. This includes six isolated subpopulations of Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris), two in marine waters in the Philippines: Malampaya Sound and Iloilo-Guimaras, and four in fresh or brackish waters: the Mekong River, Mahakam River, Songkhla Lake and the Ayeyarwady River subpopulations.

Twelve cetacean species are Endangered. Most species are riverine or confined to coastal waters: Indus River dolphins (Platanista minor),  Ganges river dolphins (Platanista gangetica), Amazon River dolphins (Inia geoffrensis), Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris), tucuxis (Sotalia fluviatilis), Indian Ocean humpback dolphins (Sousa plumbea), Narrow-ridged finless porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis), and Hector’s dolphins (Cephalorhynchus hectori). Two species are currently estimated to be declining: North Pacific right whales (Eubalaena japonica) and Perrin’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon perrini). Two species are recovering from highly depleted states resulting from historical whaling and are anticipated to qualify for lower levels of threat as recovery continues: sei whales (Balaenoptera borealis) and blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus). Additionally, two subspecies and eleven subpopulations are Endangered.

Seven species are classified as Vulnerable: Fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), Indo-Pacific finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides), Australian snubfin dolphins (Orcaella heinsohni), Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), Franciscanas (Pontoporia blainvillei), Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis), and Australian humpback dolphins (Sousa sahulensis). Four subspecies and two subpopulations also fall under this Red List category.

Ten species and one subpopulation are Near Threatened. Forty-nine species and two subpopulations are classified as Least Concern. Ten species are very little known and are classified as Data Deficient.