Cetaceans are relatively large, generally characterized by streamlined bodies that glide easily through the marine environment. Approximately 78 species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises are included in the Order Cetacea.

Cetaceans are broken into two Suborders, or main groups:

Mysticeti (baleen whales)
Odontoceti (toothed whales)

There are 11 species of baleen whales and 67 species of toothed whales.

Status of Cetacean Species

All cetaceans are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA); some may be designated as "depleted" under the MMPA. Endangered and threatened cetaceans are further protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The table below includes cetaceans found in U.S. waters and endangered/threatened foreign species. Note: Species listed as endangered or threatened under the ESA are, by default, also considered "depleted" under the MMPA.

(E = "endangered"; P = "proposed"; D = "depleted"; C = "candidate"; S = "species of concern"; DL = "delisted"; F = "foreign")SpeciesStatus

Atlantic spotted dolphin
(Stenella frontalis)

Atlantic white-sided dolphin
(Lagenorhynchus acutus)

Baird's beaked whale
(Berardius bairdii)

Beluga whale
(Delphinapterus leucas)

Cook Inlet

Blainville's beaked whale
(Mesoplodon densirostris)

Blue whale
(Balaenoptera musculus)

Bottlenose dolphin
(Tursiops truncatus)

Western North Atlantic coastal

Fiordland

Bowhead whale
(Balaena mysticetus)

Bryde's whale
(Balaenoptera edeni)

Chinese river dolphin / baiji
(Lipotes vexillifer)

E (F)

Clymene dolphin
(Stenella clymene)

Cuvier's beaked whale
(Ziphius cavirostris)

Dall's porpoise
(Phocoenoides dalli)

Dwarf sperm whale
(Kogia sima)

False killer whale
(Pseudorca crassidens)

Main Hawaiian Islands Insular

Fin whale
(Balaenoptera physalus)

Fraser's dolphin
(Lagenodelphis hosei)

Gervais' beaked whale
(Mesoplodon europaeus)

Gray whale
(Eschrichtius robustus)

Western North Pacific

E (F)

Eastern North Pacific

Gulf of California harbor porpoise / vaquita
(Phocoena sinus)

E (F)

Harbor porpoise
(Phocoena phocoena)

Baltic Sea

Hector's dolphin
(Delphinidae hectori)

Humpback whale
(Megaptera novaeangliae)

Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin
(Sousa chinensis)

Eastern Taiwan Strait

Indus river dolphin
(Platanista minor)

E (F)

Killer whale
(Orcinus orca)

Southern Resident

AT1 transient

Long-beaked common dolphin
(Delphinus capensis)

Long-finned pilot whale
(Globicephala melas)

Longman's beaked whale
(Indopacetus pacificus)

Melon-headed whale
(Peponocephala electra)

Minke whale
(Balaenoptera acutorostrata)

Narwhal
(Monodon monoceros)

North Atlantic right whale
(Eubalaena glacialis)

North Pacific right whale
(Eubalaena japonica)

Northern bottlenose whale
(Hyperoodon ampullatus)

Northern right whale dolphin
(Lissodelphis borealis)

Pacific white-sided dolphin
(Lagenorhynchus obliquidens)

Pantropical spotted dolphin
(Stenella attenuata)
- Northeastern Offshore

Pygmy killer whale
(Feresa attenuata)

Pygmy sperm whale
(Kogia breviceps)

Risso's dolphin
(Grampus griseus)

Rough-toothed dolphin
(Steno bredanensis)

Sei whale
(Balaenoptera borealis)

Short-beaked common dolphin
(Delphinus delphis)

Short-finned pilot whale
(Globicephala macrorhynchus)

Southern right whale
(Eubalaena australis)

E (F)

Sowerby's beaked whale
(Mesoplodon bidens)

Sperm whale
(Physeter macrocephalus)

Spinner dolphin
(Stenella longirostris)

Eastern

Stejneger's beaked whale
(Mesoplodon stejnegeri)

Striped dolphin
(Stenella coeruleoalba)

True's beaked whale
(Mesoplodon mirus)

White-beaked dolphin
(Lagenorhynchus albirostris)

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