Updating the Cetacean Species List of Raja Ampat, Indonesia with Additional Sightings of the Rarely Documented Omura’s Whale (Balaenoptera omurai)

• Published in: Aquatic Mammals
• Main Authors: Sahri, Achmad, Hocdé, Régis, Nandika, Muhammad R., Fahmi, Fahmi, Tjarles, Lay, Alifatri, La O., Manuhutu, Jafry F., Taborat, Mathias, Bata, Ferdinand I.P., Kreb, Danielle, Mustika, Putu L.K., Mannocci, Laura
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Western Illinois University Regional Center 2024
• Subjects: Pacific; Indian; Balaenoptera physalus; baleen whales; Fin whale
• Online Access: https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/82722/1/Sahri-etal_Revised-short-note.pdf; https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/82722/2/Sahri_etal_Revised_Supplemental_file.pdf

[Extract] For some morphologically similar species, it can be challenging to provide identification, particularly when they are observed in a fleeting encounter in the wild, and cetaceans are not an exception. Baleen whales exemplify this issue, as morphologically similar species can be easily confused (e.g., Omura’s whale [Balaenoptera omurai] and fin whale [Balaenoptera physalus]). Omura’s whale is one of the least known cetacean species. It was relatively newly described as a distinct species (Wada et al., 2003; Sasaki et al., 2006) after previously being misclassified as a pygmy/dwarf form of Bryde’s whale (Balaenoptera edeni) (Sasaki et al., 2006; Cerchio et al., 2015). Omura’s whale is distributed in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans, with most doc mented occurrences in the eastern Indo-Pacific Ocean (de Vos, 2017; Cerchio et al., 2019).