National Whale and Dolphin Sightings and Strandings Database

The National Whale and Dolphin Sightings and Strandings Database records reported sightings of whales and dolphins in Australian waters and maintains details of stranding events around the Australian coastline.

Searching the National Whale and Dolphin Sightings and Strandings Database

You can search the database for sightings and strandings information on whales and dolphins through the online interactive tool below. More help searching the National Whale and Dolphin Sightings and Strandings database

Disclaimer — The database is continually updated however it may not contain all recent information on sightings and strandings of whales and dolphins.

Whales
Dolphins

Whales
Common name	Scientific name	Family	Number of sightings	Number of strandings
Humpback Whale	Megaptera novaeangliae	Balaenopteridae	1002	54
Sperm Whale	Physeter macrocephalus	Physeteridae	288	132
Southern Right Whale	Eubalaena australis	Balaenidae	278	11
Unknown Pilot Whale	Globicephala sp.	Delphinidae	83	26
Minke Whale	Balaenoptera acutorostrata	Balaenopteridae	70	54
Killer Whale	Orcinus orca	Delphinidae	63	24
Southern Bottlenose Whale	Hyperoodon planifrons	Ziphiidae	27	13
Fin Whale	Balaenoptera physalus	Balaenopteridae	26	4
False Killer Whale	Pseudorca crassidens	Delphinidae	19	50
Sei Whale	Balaenoptera borealis	Balaenopteridae	17	4
Long-finned Pilot Whale	Globicephala melas	Delphinidae	15	88
Blue Whale	Balaenoptera musculus	Balaenopteridae	11	17
Short-finned Pilot Whale	Globicephala macrorhynchus	Delphinidae	10	19
Melon-headed Whale	Peponocephala electra	Delphinidae	4	21
Unknown Baleen Whale	Balaenoptera sp.	Balaenopteridae	3	14
Pygmy Right Whale	Caperea marginata	Balaenidae	2	63
Bryde's Whale	Balaenoptera edeni	Balaenopteridae	2	11
Pygmy Sperm Whale	Kogia breviceps	Physeteridae	2	82
Pygmy Killer Whale	Feresa attenuata	Delphinidae	1	5
Cuvier's Beaked Whale, Goose-beaked Whale	Ziphius cavirostris	Ziphiidae	1	30
True's Beaked Whale	Mesoplodon mirus	Ziphiidae		3
Dwarf Sperm Whale	Kogia simus	Physeteridae		3
Tasman Beaked Whale	Tasmacetus shepherdi	Ziphiidae		3
Longman's Beaked Whale	Indopacetus pacificus	Ziphiidae		1
Long-finned Pilot Whale	Globicephala melaena	Delphinidae
Andrew's Beaked Whale	Mesoplodon bowdoini	Ziphiidae		9
Blainville's Beaked Whale, Dense-beaked Whale	Mesoplodon densirostris	Ziphiidae		10
Gray's Beaked Whale, Scamperdown Whale	Mesoplodon grayi	Ziphiidae		41
Antarctic Minke Whale, Dark-shoulder Minke Whale	Balaenoptera bonaerensis	Balaenopteridae
Unknown Beaked whale	Mesoplodon sp.	Ziphiidae		18
Strap-toothed Beaked Whale, Strap-toothed Whale, Layard's Beaked Whale	Mesoplodon layardii	Ziphiidae		63
Gingko Beaked Whale, Gingko-toothed Whale, Gingko Beaked Whale	Mesoplodon gingkodens	Ziphiidae		2
Arnoux's Beaked Whale	Berardius arnuxii	Ziphiidae		5
Hector's Beaked Whale	Mesoplodon hectori	Ziphiidae		2

Dolphins
Common name	Scientific name	Family	Number of sightings	Number of strandings
Dolphin sp.	Delphinidae sp.	Delphinidae	82	58
Bottlenose Dolphin	Tursiops truncatus	Delphinidae	61	336
Common Dolphin	Delphinus delphis	Delphinidae	16	231
Long-snouted Spinner Dolphin	Stenella longirostris	Delphinidae	11	2
Southern Right Whale Dolphin	Lissodelphis peronii	Delphinidae	6
Striped Dolphin	Stenella coeruleoalba	Delphinidae	5	23
Risso's Dolphin	Grampus griseus	Delphinidae	5	17
Hourglass Dolphin	Lagenorhynchus cruciger	Delphinidae	4
Dusky Dolphin	Lagenorhynchus obscurus	Delphinidae	2
Irrawaddy Dolphin	Orcaella brevirostris	Delphinidae	1	40
Fraser's Dolphin	Lagenodelphis hosei	Delphinidae		7
Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin	Sousa chinensis	Delphinidae		27
Bottlenose Dolphin sp.	Tursiops sp.	Delphinidae		18
Spectacled Dolphin	Australophocoena dioptrica	Phocoenidae		2
Spotted Dolphin	Stenella attenuata	Delphinidae		6
Rough-toothed Dolphin	Steno bredanensis	Delphinidae		2

More help searching the National Whale and Dolphin Sightings and Strandings Database

To view information on recorded sightings and strandings of a species, select the name of the species in the 'common name' column eg. Pygmy Right Whale.

To re-order the information on any page select the heading of any of the columns (ie. family, common name, or species profile).

Further information on a species can be viewed by selecting the scientific name eg. Eubalaena marginata.