The roads not taken

endangered, the highest level of threat. But one of the real problems facing the IUCN is a lack of data. More than half the 44 cetacean species are considered “data deficient”, meaning future research on population numbers is a priority. And the worry is that more data could show more species in trouble. The blue whale, fin whale and sei whale all remain listed as endangered until more evidence is available of any recovery. Whales continue to face threats from ship strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, habitat deterioration, declining prey numbers and noise disturbance. And many of the smaller coastal cetaceans, such as dolphins and porpoises, face particular threats, the IUCN warns. “Too many of these small coastal cetaceans end up as bycatch in fisheries. This remains the main threat to them and it is only going to get worse,” says Reeves. The IUCN warns that the vulnerable vaquita, a porpoise in the Gulf of California, is likely to be the next cetacean to become extinct. Many are killed each year in fishing gear and only an estimated 150 remain in the wild. Researchers fear that it may soon follow the fate of the Yangtze river dolphin, now considered possibly extinct.