IUCN Red List Assessment
Red List Category
EN
Endangered
Red List Criteria
D
Version
3.1
Year Assessed
2008
Assessor/s
Reilly, S.B., Bannister, J.L., Best, P.B., Brown, M., Brownell Jr., R.L., Butterworth, D.S., Clapham, P.J., Cooke, J., Donovan, G.P., Urbán, J. & Zerbini, A.N.
Reviewer/s
Taylor, B.L. & Notarbartolo di Sciara, G. (Cetacean Red List Authority)
Justification
In view of how little is known about this species, and in the absence of evidence of a recovering trend, it is appropriate, pending analysis of more recent data, to base the assessment on the lower end of the range of the available abundance estimates, which are ~400 for the Okhotsk Sea and ~100 for the rest of the North Pacific, which implies a total of ~500, of which approximately half (~250) may be mature. It is therefore listed as Endangered under criterion D. Accumulation of new data over the next few years may lead to improved population estimates and a re-evaluation of the listing. A separate assessment has been developed for the eastern North Pacific subpopulation.
History
- 1996Endangered
- 1996Endangered
