Are Whales Only Found in Oceans? Freshwater Dolphins and River Whales

Not entirely. While most whales are marine, several freshwater cetaceans (often called river dolphins) inhabit rivers and lakes:

• Amazon river dolphin (boto)
• Ganges river dolphin
• Indus river dolphin
• Yangtze finless porpoise
• Irrawaddy dolphin (coastal/rivers)
• Tucuxi (Amazon/Orinoco)

These species are adapted to freshwater with distinct morphology (longer beaks, flexible necks). True whales (baleen & toothed whales) remain exclusively marine.