This preliminary study of whales and dolphins off the French Mediterranean coasts refers to 15 spp, 11 Odontoceti and 4 Mysticeti: 3 of them are common; Delphinus delphis, Tursiops truncatus and Ziphius cavirostris (in the Ligurian sea), 2 are frequent in the Ligurian sea: Grampus griseus and Balaenoptera physalus, 3 are not uncommon: Stenella coeruleoalba, Globicephala melaena, and Physeter macrocephalus, 2 are rare: Pseudorca crassidens and Orcinus orca, 3 are exceptional: Balaena acutorostrata, Megaptera novaeangliae, and Steno bredanensis, 2 seem doubtful: Hyperoodon ampullatus and Balaenoptera musculus. Also important is the fact that no Phocoena phocoena has been observed. More generally, whales and dolphins seem to be more abundant in the area between Monaco, Corsica, and Marseille, than in the west part of the French Mediterranean coasts.