Advances in scientific research on cetaceans in Central America during the decade 2011-2021

Abstract

Cetaceans are marine mammals that inhabit all the oceans of our planet. Central America has a privileged location, a tropical climate and coasts in both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The presence of cetaceans has been documented in all the countries of the region; however, scientific research has been relatively low, with respect to research carried out in other regions of America and in the world. The objective of this review was to know the advances in scientific research developed on cetaceans in the last ten years in the Central American region, allowing the identification of information gaps and thus being able to conduct scientific research in the coming years to fill the gaps in knowledge and contribute to generating conservation tools. Articles, scientific notes, and thesis of undergraduate published in the last ten years were tracked through digital repositories. Central America has a richness of 32 species of cetaceans, in investigations carried out Costa Rica and El Salvador stands out with a greater number of investigations, while Nicaragua less. Research has addressed aspects from new records, distribution and abundance, acoustics and behavior and pathologies. Although there have been advances in terms of scientific research, greater efforts should be directed in the coming years to increase the scientific knowledge that contributes to the management and conservation of these organisms.