The word "cetacean" is derived from the Latin Cetacea, the scientific name for the order of marine mammals that comprises whales, dolphins and porpoises. Two suborders of Cetacea exist today:

The Mysticeti, or baleen whales and

The Odontoceti, or toothed whales

There are four families of baleen whales and all species of this suborder are relatively large or very large. Most members of the seven families of toothed whales, on the other hand, are considerably smaller. These are small cetaceans.

Small cetaceans are found in nearly all of the world's seas and in some inland waters. Several species commonly occur in the North Sea and, more rarely, in the Baltic. ASCOBANS covers all species, subspecies or populations of toothed whales in these two seas except for the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus). The most important of these species are:

The harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)

The bottlenosed dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)

The common dolphin (Delphinus delphis)

The white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris)

The Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus)

The striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba)

Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus)

The killer whale (Orcinus orca)

The long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas)

The northern bottlenosed whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus)

and other beaked whales (Ziphiidae)

Click below to listen to 'Thalassa' ('The Sea') from the CD 'baltyckie szepty' ('Whispers of the Baltic').
The music on this CD was composed by Anna Nacher and Marek Styczynski for Hel Marine Station, Hel, Poland. The CD can be purchased at Hel Marine Station's Visitor's Center and in record shops throughout Poland.

'Thalassa' ('The Sea') [real-audio, 155kb]
'Thalassa' ('The Sea') [mp3, 399kb]

ASCOBANS would like to thank the composers for granting us the use of their intellectual property and to Hel Marine Station for providing the CD.
Music © Anna Nacher, Marek Styczynski, 2000.