Indo-Pacific Finless Porpoise

The finless porpoise was only confirmed from Sri Lanka in 2014. Nanayakkara, Jefferson and Abayaratne (2017) published the first records: one stranding at Talaimannar, Mannar Island, on 1 February 2014, and three live sightings in Palk Bay on 23 and 24 February and 17 March 2014. The stranded animal was 120 cm long and blackish-grey above, with a grey, cream-tinged underside.

The live pods numbered 5 to 8 animals each and were seen in shallow water, 7 to 10 m deep, some 30 km from the Indian coast. The authors point to heavy fishing pressure, gillnets, dynamite use and boat traffic, and to the proposed Sethusamudram Shipping Canal, as threats (Nanayakkara et al. 2017). The 2012 national list gives no national category for cetaceans.