Marine Mammals of Peru

Short-beaked Common Dolphin - Delphinus delphis
Photo by Giovanni Bearzi

Peru has about 35 species of marine mammals, in which we include whales, dolphins, poroises, sea lions, seals and sea otters. There are 21 species of small cetaceans. Most of these live in open waters but only two species, the Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and the Burmeister's Porpoise (Phocaena spinnipinis), live in inshore waters.

List of Marine Mammals

1. South American Sea Lion - Otaria flavescens (formerly byronia)
2. South American Fur Seal - Arctocephalus australis
3. Juan Fernández Fur Seal - Arctocephalus philippii (does not breed, seen in small numbers during the winter months at San Juan de Marcona)
4. Marine Otter - Lontra felina
5. Risso's Dolphin - Grampus griseus
6. Bottlenose Dolphin - Tursiops truncatus
7. Short-Beaked Common Dolphin - Delphinus delphis
8. Long-Beaked Common Dolphin - Delphinus capensis
9. Dusky Dolphin - Lagenorhynchus obscurus
10. Pantropical Spotted Dolphin - Stenella attenuata
11. Striped Dolphin - Stenella coeruleoalba
12. Spinner Dolphin - Stenella longirostris
13. Rough-Toothed dolphin - Steno bredanensis
14. Pygmy Killer Whale - Feresa attenuata
15. Killer Whale - Orcinus orca
16. False Killer Whale - Pseudorca crassidens
17. Burmeister's porpoise - Phocoena spinipinnis
18. Fraser's Dolphin - Lagenodelphis hosei
19. Southern Right-whale Dolphin - Lissodelphis peronii
20. Short-Finned Pilot Whale - Globicephala macrorhynchus
21. Long-Finned Pilot Whale - Globicephala melas
22. Melon-Headed Whale - Peponocephala electra
23. Antarctic Minke Whale - Balaenoptera bonaerensis
24. Sei Whale - Balaenoptera borealis
25. Bryde's Whale - Balaenoptera edeni
26. Blue Whale - Balaenoptera musculus
27. Fin Whale - Balaenoptera physalus
28. Lesser-Beaked Whale - Mesoplodon peruvianus
29. Blainville's Beaked Whale - Mesoplodon densirostris
30. Cuvier's Beaked Whale - Ziphius cavirostris
31. Southern Right Whale - Eubalaena australis
32. Humpback Whale - Megaptera novaeangliae
33. Sperm Whale - Physeter macrocephalus
34. Pygmy Sperm Whale - Kogia breviceps
35. Dwarf Sperm Whale - Kogia sima

Marine Mammals Articles/Links

• The Marine Connection - Peru projects  ...link 
• Peru Progress Report on Cetacean Research, March 1995 To March 2004 by Peruvian Sea Research Institute (IMARPE) (PDF file)  ...link