Please contact Dipani Sutaria or Pooja Gupta for a copy
Please note that the records in our database have species names as identified in the respective sources unless misidentifications have been reported. The current understanding is that there are no confirmed reports yet of Fin, Minke and Sei whales in the Northern Indian Ocean. It should also be noted that the taxonomy of the smaller delphinids in the region is still evolving.
Order CETACEA – Whales, Dolphins & Porpoises
Suborder ODONTOCETI – Toothed Whales
- Rough-toothed dolphin Steno bredanensis
- Indo Pacific humpback dolphin Sousa chinensis
- Indian ocean humpback dolphin Sousa plumbea
- Striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba
- Pan-tropical spotted dolphin Stenella attenuata
- Spinner dolphin Stenella longirostris
- Long-beaked common dolphin Delphinus delphis (Indian ocean – Delphinus delphis tropicalis)
- Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin Tursiops aduncus
- Common bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus
- Fraser’s dolphin Lagenodelphis hosei
- Melon-headed whale Peponocephala electra
- Irrawaddy dolphin Orcaella brevirostris
- False killer whale Pseudorca crassidens
- Killer whale Orcinus orca
- Risso’s dolphin Grampus griseus
- Short-finned pilot whale Globicephala macrorhynchus
- Pygmy killer whaleFeresa attenuata
- Ginkgo-toothed beaked whale Mesoplodon ginkgodens
- Longman’s beaked whale Indopacetus pacificus
- Blainville’s beaked whale Mesoplodon densirostris
- `Cuvier’s beaked whale Ziphius cavirostris
- Deraniyagala’s beaked whale Mesoplodon hotaula
- Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae
- Blue whale Balaenoptera musculus
- Bryde’s whale Balaenoptera edeni
- Omura’s whale Balaenoptera omurai
- Sei whale* Balaenoptera borealis (no confirmed records from India)
- Fin whale* Balaenoptera physalus (no confirmed records from India)
- Minke whale* Balaenoptera acutorostrata (possible from around Maldives and Lakshdweep islands)