>What are the five species of whales living in the Indian Ocean?
I believe there are more than five:
blue whale (plus the provisional pygmy blue whale) [M, S]
fin whale
Bryde's whale (or the provisional Eden's whale)
humpback whale [M]
southern right whale [M]
sperm whale [M]
pygmy sperm whale [S]
Cuvier's beaked whale [M]
Longman's beaked whale
These are the ones I know of off the top of my head. The bracketed
letters after some of the names means I have personally seen these
([M] = Madagascar, [S] = Sri Lanka). If you include the Antarctic
Convergence at the southern part of the Indian Ocean we'd have to add
the Antarctic minke whale. I'm inclined to include the sei whale as
well. Since the pygmy right whale is known from South Africa and
Australia, I'd bet it occurs in places inbetween (Indian Ocean).
There are some beaked whales in the genus Mesoplodon from there, but
I'd have to check my references at the office to remember which ones.
Although these are dolphins, they also appear in the Indian Ocean:
killer whale
pilot whale
Cheers,
Pieter Folkens
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