FaunaHub
ENEndangeredPartial review

Hector's Dolphin

Cephalorhynchus hectori

Hector's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori), a small dolphin with a rounded dorsal fin.

Hector's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori), New Zealand.

Image: Gregory "Slobirdr" Smith, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

At a glance

IUCN category
EN · Endangered
Animal group
Mammals
Population trend
Decreasing
Last verified

Conservation overview

Hector's dolphin is one of the smallest and rarest marine dolphins, found only around New Zealand. It is assessed as Endangered.

It has a distinctive rounded dorsal fin and lives close to shore.

Range & habitat

Coastal waters of New Zealand.

Major threats

Threats below are drawn from the authoritative sources listed on this page. For the current, complete assessment, see the IUCN Red List.

  • Entanglement in fishing nets
  • A small, fragmented population
  • Disease and disturbance

Why it matters

A tiny coastal dolphin found nowhere else, Hector's dolphin is a flagship for making New Zealand's inshore fisheries dolphin-safe.

The Maui dolphin sub-population is assessed at even higher risk.

Gallery

A Hector's dolphin at the surface.

Hector's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori).

Image: Siobhan Leachman, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Sources

Sources for Hector's Dolphin

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you recognise Hector's dolphin?
It is very small, with a distinctive rounded, almost Mickey-Mouse-ear-shaped dorsal fin, and lives in shallow coastal waters around New Zealand.
Why is Hector's dolphin Endangered?
Published assessments cite entanglement in fishing nets above all, plus a small, fragmented population, disease, and disturbance. The Maui subspecies is even more imperilled. See the IUCN Red List.

Last updated: