Preliminary boat surveys suggest that the southern right whale dolphin may be one of the most common cetaceans in northern Chilean coastal waters. Increasing numbers of southern right whale dolphins have stranded on beaches of north-central Chile in the last few years, some have been returned to sea alive, but it is not known if they survived.

It is not confirmed, but likely that killer whales and possibly large sharks are predators for the southern right whale dolphin. (Jefferson et al., 1994; Jefferson et al., 1993; Joint Nature Conservation Committee, 1993)

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: appendix ii

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: data deficient