Samenvatting

Cetaceans play an important role in the functioning of natural ecosystems. The Caribbean Sea serves as an important foraging, breeding, and birthing area for an array of cetaceans, which led to the establishment of the Yarari Marine Mammal Sanctuary in 2015. Currently, no additional conservation measures are in place to protect important cetacean species that reside in and pass through this mammal sanctuary, i.e. the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) and the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncates).