IUCN conservation status: the 90 cetacean species

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has published the Red List of threatened species since 1964. This database presents the status of each cetacean species according to the latest assessment, dated 2024: numbers, population trends, main threats. The statuses run from Least Concern (LC) to Critically Endangered (CR), by way of Data Deficient (DD) for poorly known species.

What is the conservation status of cetaceans worldwide?

The IUCN Red List regularly assesses the status of each cetacean species. From the blue whale to the Yangtze finless porpoise, from Critically Endangered river dolphins to thriving beluga populations, this database presents the conservation status of each species, its estimated population, and the main threats that weigh on it.

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The main threats to these species are detailed in our pages on bycatch, measured chemical pollution, and the impacts of climate change.

The IUCN Red List: how the statuses are read

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species classifies cetaceans in seven categories: LC (Least Concern), NT (Near Threatened), VU (Vulnerable), EN (Endangered), CR (Critically Endangered), EW (Extinct in the Wild) and EX (Extinct). The assessments are carried out by the Cetacean Specialist Group, chaired by Randall Reeves.

Among the ~90 species, several are Critically Endangered: the vaquita (Gulf of California, < 10 individuals), the North Atlantic right whale (~370 individuals, Eubalaena glacialis), the Māui dolphin, a New Zealand subspecies. The baiji (Lipotes vexillifer) of the Yangtze was declared “functionally extinct” in 2007 by Turvey et al., the first cetacean driven to extinction by humans in the modern era.