Cetacean observations in the Indian Ocean Sanctuary and the South China Sea, Mauritius to the Philippines, April 1999

• Main Author: de Boer, Marijke
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Wageningen University & Research 2021
• Subjects: Balaenoptera brydei; Balaenoptera physalus; Bryde's whale; Cuvier's beaked whale; False killer whale; Feresa attenuata; Fin whale; Finless porpoise; Melon-headed whale; Neophocaena phocaenoides; Pantropical spotted dolphin; Peponocephala electra; Physeter macrocephalus; Pseudorca crassidens; Pygmy killer whale; Sperm whale; Spinner dolphin; Stenella attenuata; Stenella longirostris; Ziphius cavirostris; Indian; Killer Whale
• Online Access: https://research.wur.nl/en/datasets/cetacean-observations-in-the-indian-ocean-sanctuary-and-the-south; https://doi.org/10.15468/jxvw8e

Information on cetaceans in the Indian Ocean Sanctuary and the South China Sea is summarized from a cruise carried out from 29 March to 17 April 1999. Ten species were positively identified: finless porpoise, pantropical spotted dolphin, spinner dolphin, sperm whale, melon-headed whale, pygmy killer whale, false killer whale, Cuvier’s beaked whale, Bryde’s whale and fin whale. Spotted dolphins, melon-headed and pygmy killer whales were sighted around the Island of Borneo and sightings of fin whales and a sperm whale west of the Balabac Strait suggest a possible migration route of these species between the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea. This is the first record of fin whales in the South China Sea. Purpose: This note details cetacean observations made during a cruise from Mauritius to the Philippines in April (ca 4,520 nautical miles). Supplemental information: Time was not provided, so it was filled with "00:00:00."