The marine mammals of Grenada, W.I., and their conservation status

To document the Grenadian marine mammal fauna and its distribution in the eastern Caribbean, we conducted field and archival studies in that country. All records of sirenians and cetaceans for Grenada were assembled and analyzed. The total number of confirmed marine mammal species for this part of the world is 11. The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) was the most commonly reported mysticete species while a variety of odontocetes seem to be equally frequent in those waters. The manatee (Trichechus manatus) has been extinct from those waters for at least 300 years. Comparison with the marine mammal fauna of adjacent regions (Venezuela, Trinidad, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines), leads us to believe that at least seven additional species of cetaceans may be present in Grenadian waters, probably as occasional visitors.