Ecology and Conservation of Cetaceans of Costa Rica and Panama

The cetacean species richness of Costa Rica and Panama represents about 36% of the species described worldwide. Within the economical coastal waters of these countries bottlenose dolphins, the pantropical spotted dolphins, the Guiana dolphin, and humpback whales are the most commonly observed. Their high sight fidelity and predictability has resulted in a rapid increase on the whale-watching industry, perhaps second to incidental mortality, when unregulated whale-watching can negatively affect coastal cetacean populations. In this Chapter, we provide a summary of the state of knowledge of the ecology and conservation status of the cetaceans of Costa Rica and Panama. Along this line, we describe the consensus of our small scientific community on what relates to future scientific research and conservation.