Review Article

Cetaceans and Marine Debris: The Great Unknown

Table 2

Overview of entanglement and ingestion in cetaceans.

SpeciesLaist 1987 [8]Laist 1997 [9]This review

Mysticete whales (Ingestion only)
Balaena mysticetus (bowhead whale)I/E
Eubalaena glacialis (northern right whale)E*E*
Eubalaena australis (southern right whale)E*
Megaptera novaeangliae (humpback whale)E*E*
Eschrichtius robustus (gray whale)E*
Balaenoptera physalus (fin whale)E*
Balaenoptera acutorostrata (minke whale)E*I/E*I
Balaenoptera edeni (bryde’s whale)I

Odontocete whales
Physeter macrocephalus (sperm whale)II/E*IM
Kogia sima (dwarf sperm whale)I
Kogia breviceps (pygmy sperm whale)III
Berardius bairdii (Baird’s beaked whale)I
Ziphius cavirostris (Cuvier’s beaked whale)III?M
Mesoplodon europaeus (Gervais’ beaked whale)IIM
Mesoplodon densirostris (Blainville’s beaked whale)II
Globicephala macrorhynchus (short-finned pilot whale)II
Globicephala melas (long-finned pilot whale)I
Steno bredanensis (rough-toothed dolphin)III
Pseudorca crassidens (false killer whale)I
Orcinus orca (orca or killer whale)E*
Lagenorhynchus obliquidens (Pacific white-sided dolphin)I
Delphinus delphis (common dolphin)II
Tursiops truncatus (bottlenose dolphin)I/E*I
Grampus griseus (Risso’s dolphin)I
Stenella coeruleoalba (striped dolphin)II
Lissodelphis borealis (northern right whale dolphin)I
Phocoena phocoena (harbour porpoise)I/E*I
Phocoenoides dalli (Dall’s porpoise)I/E
Pontoporia blainvillei (Franciscana)II
Sotalia fluviatilis (tucuxi dolphin)I
Stenella frontalis (Atlantic spotted dolphin)I
Lagenodelphis hosei (Fraser’s dolphin)I
Hyperoodon ampullatus (North Atlantic bottlenose whale)I
Mesoplodon bidens (Sowerby’s beaked whale)I

Key: I: ingestion recorded; E: entanglement recorded; IM: mortality reported as associated with ingestion; I?M: mortality resulting from ingestion likely.
*Entanglement in fishing gear where it is not clear if it was in use or lost at the time of entanglement.