Cetacean sightings, mixed-species assemblages and the easternmost record of Indopacetus pacificus from the northern Indian ocean

A visual survey of cetaceans was carried out during a voyage from Singapore to Sri Lanka, through the Straits of Malacca, Andaman Sea and across the Bay of Bengal in the northern Indian Ocean in November/December 2012. Forty sightings of 11 cetacean species were recorded in 19 days of observation. Two mixed-species associations of interest were recorded. One of these contained four species of odontocetes in association with each other. The second group was of Indopacetus pacificus in association with Globicephala macrorhynchus and this while being the easternmost live sighting of I. pacificus in the northern Indian Ocean is also the first such mixed group in the Bay of Bengal.