Distribution and Species Diversity of Stranding Cetaceans in Malaysia: A Review

Laura, Wenchis (2022) Distribution and Species Diversity of Stranding Cetaceans in Malaysia: A Review. [Final Year Project Report] (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Malaysia is diverse in term of flora and fauna. Because of the biodiversity richness, Malaysian waters become one of the places for marine mammals such as Cetaceans. Order Cetaceans consist of porpoises, dolphins, and whales. The cases of stranding cetaceans are common in Malaysia whether found alive or already dead. It is to gather all the exist information whether it had been published in journals, new articles or posted in social media. Two main objectives of this study: (i) To identify the species of stranded cetaceans in Malaysia (ii) To determine the distribution of stranded cetaceans in Malaysia. Stranding cases were recorded from nine states in Peninsular Malaysia, Labuan, Sabah, and Sarawak with 12 species of identified whales, 11 species of dolphins, and one species of porpoise. Ten type cause of death that were reported in this paper, with a total of 112 cases with unknown causes and Sabah recorded the highest live stranding with four cases. Southwest monsoon happened between April until September with 70 stranding cases meanwhile northeast monsoon happened between October until March, recorded 68 stranding cases both in between year 1992 – 2022. Not only that, five years interval were observed to see which year recorded highest number of cases and the result shows that in year 2012 – 2016 recorded 52 cases of stranded cetaceans. This paper will help update the information especially data on cause of death that will be useful for government to come up with the new conservation plan and to avoid more stranding cases from happening in Malaysia.

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