Abstract
Documenting marine mammal strandings provides important information needed to understand the occurrence and distribution patterns of species. Here, we report on strandings of cetaceans on the Pacific (n = 11) and Caribbean (n = 2) coasts of Nicaragua, documented opportunistically from 2014 to 2021. Strandings included three species of baleen whale (blue whale Balaenoptera musculus, Bryde’s whale Balaenoptera edeni, humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae) and five species of toothed whale (dwarf sperm whale Kogia sima, Guiana dolphin Sotalia guianensis, pantropical spotted dolphin Stenella attenuata, spinner dolphin Stenella longirostris, Cuvier’s beaked whale Ziphius cavirostris). These are the first published accounts of blue whales, Bryde’s whales, dwarf sperm whales, and Cuvier’s beaked whales in Nicaraguan waters. Limited resources and the advanced decomposition of animals prevented necropsies in most cases, the identification of the causes of mortality in all cases, and the species identification of two dolphins. Information derived from these stranding events offers new insights into the occurrence of marine mammals on the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua and Central America.
Highlights
Assessments of the occurrence, distribution, and population status of whales and dolphins typically require logistically complex and costly methods such as systematic boat-based transects and aerial surveys
Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis) Guiana dolphins are known to occur along the Caribbean coastal areas from Southern Brazil to Honduras
Here we report the stranding of sixteen individual animals of seven different species along the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua
Summary
Assessments of the occurrence, distribution, and population status of whales and dolphins typically require logistically complex and costly methods such as systematic boat-based transects and aerial surveys. Implementing these methods in regions with limited resources is often infeasible. De Weerdt et al Marine Biodiversity Records (2021) 14:13 whales and dolphins in the regions Information on these species in Nicaragua and Central America is lacking because of the limited amount of boat-based surveys, the absence of a coordinated stranding response, and of organizations trained and equipped to collect standard stranding data and conduct post-mortem analysis of stranded animals. Linear length measurements were made from the tip of the rostrum to the medial notch of the caudal fin (tail)
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