Marine mammals

Te Papa's marine mammal collections and research encompass whales, dolphins, porpoises (Cetacea), seals, and dugongs and manatees (Sirenians).  The focus of the collection is on species that occur in the New Zealand region, including the subantarctic and Antarctica, but it also includes some foreign material, and is best known for its specimens of beaked whales, the endemic Hector's dolphin, and New Zealand and Antarctic seals.