Mediterranean cetaceans constitute a unique assemblage of species found in the virtually closed basin of the Mediterranean Sea. This assemblage differs from those found in the North Atlantic or the Red Sea. In the Mediterranean, cetaceans are represented by around twenty species, but only eight of these are considered common: the Short-beaked dolphin, Common dolphin, Bottlenose dolphin, Risso's dolphin, Long-finned pilot whale, Cuvier's beaked whale, Sperm whale and Fin whale. Their distribution varies greatly from region to region, and their abundance and diversity seem to be greatest in the Corso-Liguro-Provençal basin, where cetaceans have been protected by the Pelagos Sanctuary since 2002.
Renowned for their intelligence, which in some respects is similar to that of humans, cetaceans are the focus of protection measures that are all the more important given that their slow life cycle makes them vulnerable to the many threats that affect them in the Mediterranean. Indeed, the density of human settlement and traffic in the Mediterranean basin exposes marine species, and particularly large marine mammals such as cetaceans, to numerous threats that require specific conservation measures.