Additional Records and a Review of the Cetacean Fauna of the Leeward Dutch Antilles

Forty-one additional cetacean records are reported for the Leeward Dutch Antilles, expanding the list of documented records to 70 (53 sightings and 17 strandings). First records are given for the melonhead whale Peponocephala electra (Gray), such that now 13 species are confirmed for these islands. The most sighted whales are Bryde’s whale and shortfin pilot whale, whereas the most sighted dolphins are spinner and bottlenose dolphins. Most cetacean movement is upstream and towards the east/southeast. Reported strandings have been on the rise, of which 47% involved beaked whales (goosebeak whale and Antillean beaked whale)