Supported Species     Aquatic Mammal
 
 
 
  Baiji
Baiji

 

Species Name: Baiji
Scientific Name: Lipotes vexillifer
Conservation Status
(Year Published):
Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) (2008)
Critically Endangered (1996, 2006 & 2007)
Endangered (1986, 1988, 1990 & 1994)

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T12119A3322533. Downloaded on 25 April 2017.
Estimated Wild Population: This species may already be extinct (Possibly Extinct).
The last documented sighting (supported by photographic 
evidence) was in 2002 and the last confirmed stranding was in 2001. In 2006, a comprehensive visual and acoustic survey failed to find a single Baiji in the Yangtze River.
Distribution: Endemic to China, along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
Major Threats: Degradation and loss of habitat, incidental mortality from interactions with fisheries.
 
 
 
  Blue Whale
Blue Whale
Species Name: Blue Whale
Scientific Name: Balaenoptera musculus
Conservation Status
(Year Published):
Endangered (1986, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1996 & 2008)

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T2477A9447146. Downloaded on 25 April 2017. 
Estimated Wild Population: Estimated at around 10,000-25,000 globally. Population trend is increasing.
Distribution: Cosmopolitan species, found in all oceans except the Arctic, but absent from some regional seas such as the Mediterranean, Okhotsk and Bering seas.
Major Threats: Ship strikes and entanglements
 
 
 
  Cuvier's beaked whale
Cuvier's beaked whale
Species Name: Cuvier's beaked whale
Scientific Name: Ziphius cavirostris
Conservation Status
(Year Published):
Least Concern (2008)
Data Deficient (1996)

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T23211A9429826. Downloaded on 25 April 2017.
Estimated Wild Population: Likely over 100,000. Population trend is not known.
Distribution: Widely distributed in offshore waters of all oceans, from the tropics to the polar regions in both hemispheres.
Major Threats: Prey reduction, fisheries by-catch and maybe active sonar and seismic operation.
 
 
 
  Dugong
Dugong
Species Name: Dugong
Scientific Name: Dugong dugon
Conservation Status
(Year Published):
Vulnerable (1982, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1996, 2006, 2008 & 2015)

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T6909A43792211. Downloaded on 25 April 2017.
Estimated Wild Population: Uncertain. Population trend is decreasing.
Distribution: Tropical and subtropical coastal and island waters between East Africa and east of Australia. Based on a regional assessment in 2011, some populations are likely to have higher risk of extinction: Palau and Japan populations as Critically Endangered; East African as Endangered.
Major Threats: Vary between different populations but include fisheries by-catch, hunting, boat strikes, destruction and loss of seagrass bed.
 
 
 
  Ganges River Dolphin
Ganges River Dolphin
Species Name: Ganges River Dolphin
Scientific Name: Platanista gangetica ssp. gangetica
Conservation Status
(Year Published):
Endangered (2004 & 2008)
Vulnerable (1988, 1990 & 1994)

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012: e.T41758A17355810. Downloaded on 25 April 2017.
Estimated Wild Population: Uncertain.  Population trend is not known.
Distribution: River systems in Bangladesh, India and Nepal.
Major Threats: Water development projects including damming, water pollution, hunting, and mortality in fishing gear.
 
 
 
  Gray Whale
Gray Whale
Species Name: Gray Whale
Scientific Name: Eschrichtius robustus (western subpopulation)
Conservation Status
(Year Published):
Critically Endangered (2000 & 2008)
Endangered (1996)

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T8099A12885692. Downloaded on 25 April 2017.
Estimated Wild Population: Around 130 individuals of which 30 are reproductive females.  Population trend is stable.
Distribution: Coastal waters in the western Pacific Ocean
Major Threats: Near shore industrialization and offshore gas and oil development
 
 
 
  Humpback Whale
Humpback Whale
Species Name: Humpback Whale
Scientific Name: Megaptera novaeangliae 
Conservation Status (Year Published): Arabian and Oceania subpopulations: Endangered (2008)
Other subpopulations: Least Concern (2008); Vulnerable (1990, 1994 & 1996), Endangered (1986 & 1988)

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T13006A3405371. Downloaded on 25 April 2017.
Estimated Wild Population: Uncertain. Population trend for Arabian sub-population is not known, whilst it is increasing for other subpopulations.
Distribution: A cosmopolitan species found in all the major ocean basins that undertake long migrations between breeding ground in tropical coastal waters in winter to feeding grounds in middle and high latitudes in summer. Not found in the Mediterranean, Baltic Sea and the Arctic Ocean.
Major Threats: Protected from commercial whaling but suffers from entanglement in coastal trap nets and ship strikes.
 
 
 
  Indus River Dolphin
Indus River Dolphin
Species Name: Indus River Dolphin
Scientific Name: Platanista gangetica ssp. minor
Conservation Status
(Year Published):
Endangered (1986, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1996, 2004 & 2012) [Needs updating]

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012: e.T41757A17628296. Downloaded on 25 April 2017. 
Estimated Wild Population: Minimum abundance estimate of fewer than 1,000. Population trend is unknown.
Distribution: Endemic to the rivers of the lower Indus basin in Pakistan
Major Threats: Water development projects including damming that lead to habitat degradation and fragmentation, water pollution and poaching.
 
 
 
  Irrawaddy Dolphin
Irrawaddy Dolphin
Species Name: Irrawaddy Dolphin
Scientific Name: Orcaella brevirostris
Conservation Status
(Years Published):
Two subpopulations in India and Thailand and three freshwater subpopulations in the Ayeyarwady, Mahakam and Mekong Rivers: Critically Endangered (2004/2008)
Other subpopulations: Vulnerable (2008)

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T15419A4579987. Downloaded on 25 April 2017.
Estimated Wild Population: 10 to 100 individuals for each of the five Critical Endangered subpopulations. 
Around 5,800 for the Bangladesh subpopulation. 
Population trend is decreasing.
Distribution: A discontinuous distribution in the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific
Major Threats: Entanglement in fishing gears, habitat loss and degradation.
 
 
 
  Spotted Seal
Spotted Seal
Species Name: Spotted Seal
Scientific Name: Phoca largha
Conservation Status
(Year Published):
Least concern (2016)
Data Deficient - 2008

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T17023A45229806. Downloaded on 25 April 2017.
Estimated Wild Population: Uncertain, perhaps 640,000. Population trend is unknown.
Distribution: Breed in the Bering Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk, the Sea of Japan and China’s Yellow and Bohai Seas. Also found outside the breeding season in Chukchi Sea and Beaufort seas and range north into the Arctic Ocean.
Major Threats: Subsistence hunting and historic commercial harvesting, intensive harvesting of their main prey species and habitat disturbance by oil and gas development.
 
 
 
  Yangtze finless porpoise
Yangtze finless porpoise
Species Name: Yangtze finless porpoise
Scientific Name: Neophocaena asiaeorientalis spp. asiaeorientalis
Conservation Status
(Year Published):
Critically Endangered (2013)
Endangered (1996)

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T43205774A45893487. Downloaded on 25 April 2017.
Estimated Wild Population: Estimated at less than 1,800 including Yangtze river mainstream, Poyang and Dongting Lakes. Population trend is decreasing.
Distribution: Lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River
Major Threats: Bycatch, entanglement in fishing gears, habitat loss and degradation, boat traffic and pollution.