Overview

Caperea marginata – (Gray, 1846)

ANIMALIA – CHORDATA – MAMMALIA – ARTIODACTYLA – NEOBALAENIDAE – Caperea – marginata 

Common Names: Pygmy Right Whale (English), Dwergnoordkaper (Afrikaans), Baleine Pygmée (French), Ballena Franca Pigmea (Spanish; Castilian)
Synonyms: No Synonyms 

Taxonomic Note:  

Despite its common name, the Pygmy Right Whale (Caperea marginata) is not closely related to Right Whales (Eubalaena spp.). Currently assigned to its own family, the Neobalaenidae, it may be the last surviving member of the formerly diverse Cetotheriidae (Marx and Fordyce 2016). The family Neobalaenidae is an enigmatic taxon consisting of a single genus and species, the Pygmy Right Whale (C. marginata) (Fitzgerald 2012), which was initially described from three baleen plates from western Australia (Skinner & Chimimba 2005). Historically, there was a lack of described fossil records for this species, and it was previously included within the family Balaenidae. However, a range of distinct morphological characteristics that differ from other balaenids, and genetic analyses by Árnason and Best (1991), suggest that C. marginata is, in fact, more closely related to Balaenopteridae or the family Eschrichtiidae. Even more recently, Fordyce and Marx (2012) proposed that the Pygmy Right Whale may be the last surviving species of the allegedly extinct family Cetotheriidae, but further analyses are necessary before this can be confirmed. Currently, no subspecies have been described. 

Red List Status: LC – Least Concern, (IUCN version 3.1) 

Assessment Information

Assessors: Elwen, S.¹ & da Silva, J.² 

Reviewer: Smith, C.³

Institutions: ¹TBC, ²South African National Biodiversity Institute, ³Endangered Wildlife Trust 

Previous Assessors: Leeney, R., Findlay, K., Elwen, S., Meyer, M., Oosthuizen, H. & Plön, S. 

Previous Reviewer: Best, P.B. 

Previous Contributors: Relton, C. & Child, M.F. 

Assessment Rationale 

This species is widely distributed throughout the southern hemisphere, with records from Australasia, South Africa, Namibia and in the open ocean of the South Atlantic, very few records are known from South America. There are no known direct threats to this species, and it was not exploited commercially during the whaling era. Furthermore, its main habitats are outside of most fisheries’ operational boundaries. Thus, this species remains Least Concern within the assessment region. Similarly, at the global scale, while there is a lack of current data on population size and distribution, it is unlikely that the species qualifies for a threatened category. Therefore, this species should be reassessed once current data on population size and trend are available. 

Regional population effects: Although it is unknown whether this species exhibits migratory behaviour, the Pygmy Right Whale has a circumpolar distribution and there are no known barriers to dispersal, thus rescue effects are possible. 

Reasons for Change 

Reason(s) for Change in Red List Category from the Previous Assessment: No Change 

Red List Index 

Red List Index: No change 

Recommended citation: Elwen S & da Silva JM. 2025. A conservation assessment of Caperea marginata. In Patel T, Smith C, Roxburgh L, da Silva JM & Raimondo D, editors. The Red List of Mammals of South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho. South African National Biodiversity Institute and Endangered Wildlife Trust, South Africa.

Regional Distribution and occurrence

Geographic Range 

Pygmy Right Whales are restricted to the southern hemisphere, where they have a circumpolar distribution, predominantly within temperate regions, between ~30°S and ~50°S in sea temperatures between 5°C and 20°C. However, within the Benguela system, the range of this species has been documented extending to ~23°S (Leeney et al. 2013) to Walvis Bay, Namibia, where juvenile C. marginata strand annually during the austral summer and early autumn (November to March; Leeney et al. 2013). Additional strandings have been documented in South Africa, along the western, southern and eastern coasts of Australia, both the North and South Islands of New Zealand, Tasmania. Only three confirmed strandings occur in South America (Chile, Argentina and the Falkland Islands) and the species is likely vagrant there (Frainer and Elwen 2024). A single stranding in the northern Hemisphere in the Gambia (Tsai & Mead, 2018), is considered a vagrant (Elwen and Frainer 2024). Live sightings of the species are highly limited with only 10s of sightings globally (Frainer and Elwen 2024). Most sightings of the species at sea are in shallow coastal waters in the same area where strandings have occurred. Around Africa, only 13 live sightings have been recorded, all in very coastal waters (Frainer and Elwen 2024). contrast, many of the sightings from the open ocean have been of groups or aggregations of whales, sometimes quite large, with groups of 5, 7, 8 (Mikhalev & Budylenko, 2012), 14 (Matsuoka et al. 2005), 80 (Matsuoka et al. 1996) and at least a 100 (Gill et al. 2008) individuals reported. Most of these sightings were associated with either upwelling areas or the subtropical convergence, where high densities of copepods or euphausiid prey are known to aggregate, and feeding behaviour during these sightings was often observed or assumed. There is no direct evidence of migrations, but stranding and sightings records around southern Africa are biased towards summer, with 56 of 72 record occurring between November and March (Frainer and Elwen 2024), although records from Australia suggest year-round residency (Kemper 2018) with stable isotope analysis suggesting year-round foraging in coastal waters (Dedden et al. 2023). Additionally, scarring patterns from cookie-cutter Sharks (Isistius spp.) suggests possible movement between the Antarctic and warmer waters. Coastal upwelling and productivity increase during climatic phenomena such as El Niño and are likely to be quickly beneficial to plankton-feeding whales such as C. marginata (Kemper et al. 2013) and thus influence its distribution. 

Elevation / Depth / Depth Zones 

Elevation Lower Limit (in metres above sea level): (Not specified) 

Elevation Upper Limit (in metres above sea level): (Not specified) 

Depth Lower Limit (in metres below sea level): (Not specified) 

Depth Upper Limit (in metres below sea level): (Not specified) 

Depth Zone: (Not specified) 

Map

Figure 1. Distribution records for Pygmy Right Whale (Caperea marginata) within the assessment region (South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho). Note that distribution data is obtained from multiple sources and records have not all been individually verified.

Biogeographic Realms 

Biogeographic Realm: Afrotropical, Antarctic, Australasian, Neotropical 

Occurrence 

Countries of Occurrence 

Large Marine Ecosystems (LME) Occurrence 

Large Marine Ecosystems: (Not specified) 

FAO Area Occurrence 

Climate change

The main feeding habitat of Pygmy Right Whales in the sub Antarctic convergence, where they are known to prey primarily on krill. These subantarctic areas are especially vulnerable to climate change and significant warming has already taken place (Cai et al. 2023, Kubiszewski et al. 2024).  These changes and others (krill overfishing) are already impacting the prey base for baleen whales, with changes in the population growth rate and feeding grounds of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis), linked to reduced prey availability southern of Southern Africa (Van den Berg et al. 2021). 

Population Information

Of all baleen whales, the Pygmy Right Whale is the most unfamiliar, and the substantial lack of data prevents an accurate estimate of global or regional population size. Offshore observations of large presumed to be feeding aggregations of 80-100 individuals (Matsuoka et al. 1996, Gill et al. 2008) suggest that the species may be relatively abundant in some areas. However, this species is usually sighted in pairs or as single individuals and is occasionally associated with other cetacean species. Pygmy Right Whales are expected to spend long periods underwater (Davies and Guiler 1957), are difficult to identify by nonexperts, and have fairly inconspicuous, rapid blows, thus making them challenging to observe at sea (Reilly et al. 2008).

Within the assessment region, there is no evidence of population structure, and no reliable trend data, however no major threats have been identified for this species. Although Soviet whalers harpooned two individuals in the southern Atlantic in 1970, it was never commercially exploited. Thus, we suspect that the population is stable but have no evidence in support of this. Similarly, at a global scale, although listed as Data Deficient given the paucity of live records, given the lack of identified threats and presumed wide distribution, it is unlikely that the species is affected by any direct threats (Reilly et al. 2008, Frainer and Elwen 2024). However, as surface feeding skim feeders, pygmy right whales are particularly vulnerable to ingestion of floating plastic (e.g., Kahane- Rapport et al. 2022; Zantis et al. 2022), and the northern part of the species range, especially the areas north of 40S are predicted to be areas with a high density of floating plastics and of high concern for seabirds (Clark et al. 2023). 

Current population trend: Suspected to be stable.  

Number of mature individuals in population: Unknown  

Number of mature individuals in largest subpopulation: Unknown  

Number of subpopulations: Unknown  

Severely fragmented: No 

Extreme fluctuations in the number of subpopulations: (Not specified) 

Continuing decline in number of subpopulations: (Not specified) 

All individuals in one subpopulation: (Not specified) 

Quantitative Analysis 

Probability of extinction in the wild within 3 generations or 10 years, whichever is longer, maximum 100 years: (Not specified) 

Probability of extinction in the wild within 5 generations or 20 years, whichever is longer, maximum 100 years: (Not specified) 

Probability of extinction in the wild within 100 years: (Not specified) 

Population Genetics

To date, no population genetic study has been carried out on this species; however, other molecular work has. Much of this work has centred around the evolutionary origins of the species, given that it is the sole representative of one of the four extant mysticete (sub)families and it is currently recognized as the only extant species of the family Neobalaenidae (sensu Gray, 1846) by the Society for Marine Mammalogy Taxonomy Committee, the International Whaling Commission, and the IUCN (Cooke, 2018). As their common name suggests, pygmy right whales were historically grouped with the right whales (balaenids) based largely on similar morphological features, such as a strongly arched and narrow upper jaw (rostrum) and narrow brain case. However, more recent molecular and morphological work has provided strong evidence that the genus Caperea is the last living taxon of the highly diverse family Cetotheriidae (Fordyce & Marx, 2013) which is more closely related to the Balaenopteroidea (including Balaenopteridae and Eschrichtidae) than to the Balaenidae (Fordyce & Marx, 2013; Park et al. 2017). The morphological similarities with right whales are now thought to have arisen as a result of convergent evolution for skim feeding (Dutoit et al. 2023). 

The genome of C. marginata was recent sequenced (Wolf et al. 2023). The level of genome-wide heterozygosity was comparable to that of the blue and North Atlantic right whales (Wolf et al. 2022), but higher compared to other mysticetes (Árnason et al. 2018; Wolf et al. 2022) , Moreover, through simulations, Wolf et al (2023) showed that the population of C. marginata over time followed a similar trajectory to other baleen whales, starting from a high abundance around the Late-Pleistocene Transition (2.6 Mya) and slowly declining in effective population size (Ne) over time until reaching a lower, but stable population size after the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (1.6 Mya–700 kya). After this point in time, the trajectory showed no sign of influence from major climatic oscillations that would have consequently affected marine circulation and productivity. Despite these demographic models providing an indication of historical Ne (~3,000-4,000 individuals about 100,000 years ago), contemporary Ne has not been quantified.  

As noted in the Population section, no structure is believed to exist within the assessment region; hence the single population is considered to be maintained (PM Indicator: 1/1=1.0); however, due to the lack of data on population size Ne cannot be estimated.

A population genetic study utilising samples from strandings might be useful in obtaining more concrete data on genetic diversity and structure for this species.  

Habitats and ecology

Although very little is known about the habitat use of the Pygmy Right Whale, they have been documented utilising both oceanic and neritic habitats (Kemper 2002, 2009, Frainer and Elwen 2024). When sighted along coastal regions, this species is commonly located within shallow, sheltered bays. In a recent global review of the species (Frainer and Elwen, 2024), only 13 cases of live sightings could be confirmed around coastal southern Africa with an additional 5 in deeper waters (Mikhaley & Budylenko 2012) combined with 78 strandings, 2 bycaught animals and 4 taken during whaling (Frainer and Elwen, 2024)  The availability of food during spring and summer may be a driver for seasonal movements inshore (Ross et al. 1975, Sekiguchi et al. 1992b). In Namibia several individuals have been observed in the coastal waters of Walvis Bay by dolphin-watching tour operators (RH Leeney pers. obs.) and the regular occurrence of live strandings, particularly of juveniles, in Walvis Bay suggests that this region may be an important habitat for young Pygmy Right Whales, and may possibly extend into the offshore environment towards the Walvis Ridge (Leeney et al. 2013).

The stomach contents of a juvenile female discovered in False Bay, South Africa comprised of a range of copepods (such as Calanoides, Carinatus, Centropages brachiatus, Paracartia africana, Oithonia spp. and Oncaea spp.) and the ampipod Themisto gaudichaudi (Sekiguchi et al. 1992a). Similarly, the stomachs of two individuals caught by Soviet whalers contained mostly calnoid copepods (Ivashin et al. 1972). Best (2007) documents that Pygmy Whales also feed on euphausiids.

As the smallest of all baleen whales, reaching a total length of just over 6 m, the term “Pygmy” was aptly attached to this species. Although very little information is available for the reproductive biology of this species, Ross et al. (1975) used information from other baleen whales to approximate the calf length at birth as 1.6–2.2 m, and at weaning as 3.2–3.8 m. Additionally, their gestation and lactation periods are estimated to last 10 and 5 months, respectively (Pavey 1992).

Ecosystem and cultural services: Marine mammals integrate and reflect ecological variation across large spatial and long temporal scales, and therefore they are prime sentinels of marine ecosystem change (Moore 2008).

IUCN Habitats Classification Scheme

Life History

Generation Length: (Not specified)

Age at Maturity: Female or unspecified: (Not specified)

Age at Maturity: Male: (Not specified)

Size at Maturity (in cms): Female: (Not specified)

Size at Maturity (in cms): Male: (Not specified)

Longevity: (Not specified)

Average Reproductive Age: (Not specified)

Maximum Size (in cms): (Not specified)

Size at Birth (in cms): (Not specified)

Gestation Time: (Not specified)

Reproductive Periodicity: (Not specified)

Average Annual Fecundity or Litter Size: (Not specified)

Natural Mortality: (Not specified)

Does the species lay eggs? (Not specified)

Does the species give birth to live young: (Not specified)

Does the species exhibit parthenogenesis: (Not specified)

Does the species have a free-living larval stage? (Not specified)

Does the species require water for breeding? (Not specified)

Movement Patterns

Movement Patterns: (Not specified)

Congregatory: (Not specified)

Systems

System: Marine

General Use and Trade Information

There is no contemporary trade or use of this species in South Africa. 

Local Livelihood: (Not specified) 

National Commercial Value: (Not specified) 

International Commercial Value: (Not specified) 

End Use: (Not specified) 

Is there harvest from captive/cultivated sources of this species? (Not specified) 

Harvest Trend Comments: (Not specified) 

Threats

This species has very rarely been exploited (Clapham et al.1999) and has never been a target species by the commercial whaling industry. This species is likely to be naturally rare within its range, or may be difficult to recognise, due to its inconspicuous nature. Alternatively, the core regions of Pygmy Right Whale concentration may not yet have been identified. However, there is currently no evidence of any direct anthropogenic threats (Reilly et al. 2008), thus there is no reason to suppose that the conservation status of this species is threatened.

Although its principal habitat (40–50°S) is remote from most fishing activity, within the Benguela system, juvenile Pygmy Right Whales are known to utilise some of the bays in the region including Walvis Bay, False Bay and potentially others. These areas contain relatively high levels of commercial and recreational boat traffic and marine tourism. Since this species may also utilise regions offshore of this area, it probably also overlaps with hake trawl fisheries, which operate off the Namibian and South African coasts. Thus, similar to other baleen whales, this species may be somewhat vulnerable to entanglement in fishing gear, or collision and disturbance by boats. As surface-feeding skim feeders, pygmy right whales are particularly vulnerable to ingestion of small particles of floating plastic (e.g., Kahane- Rapport et al. 2022; Zantis et al. 2022), and the northern part of the species range, especially the areas north of 40S are predicted to be areas with a high density of floating plastics and of high concern for seabirds (Clark et al. 2023). The impacts of a changed Sub Antarctic environment which has suffered from the massive impacts of whaling and, more recently, fishing effort and climate change are unknown.   

Current habitat trend: Unknown, but suspected to be stable. 

Conservation

No specific conservation initiatives have been identified for this rare and enigmatic species; however, they are recorded on Appendix I and Appendix II of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) and CMS (Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals), respectively. Additionally, this species is likely to be somewhat covered by generic whale protection interventions both regionally and internationally. Similarly, this species is fully protected in South African waters through national legislation (Friedmann and Daly 2004).

The current lack of ecological data for this cryptic species, and its associated distribution and population trends within the assessment region, currently prevents the implementation of species-specific mitigation actions. However, this species is likely to benefit from the collection of sightings records during ship-based surveys directed at other marine species. Furthermore, data collected from stranded individuals may be a valuable means of assessing Pygmy Right Whale distributional and reproductive seasonality, diet and additional potential threats to this species.

Recommendations for managers and practitioners: 

• Although species-specific monitoring is deemed unnecessary for this species in the assessment region, sightings data should be recorded during systematic monitoring of other cetacean species.  
• Enforce regulations associated with artisanal fisheries, especially regarding the collection of bycatch data. 

Research priorities: 

• Population size and trend estimates.
• Distributional limits, and the identification of core concentration areas, including seasonality and diving behaviour. 
• Diet, reproduction and general biology. 
• Identification of potential threats.

Encouraged citizen actions: 

• Report strandings and sightings in all range states to relevant local authorities. This is in place in Namibia through the NSN and the network of marine tour operators in Walvis Bay. 
• Whale watching operators could contribute to photo ID catalogues and behavioural observations.   

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