Dear colleagues Jim and I are very pleased to announce a new paper - reporting the first stranding of *Caperea* in the Northern Hemisphere - from the coast of The Gambia, Africa. Tsai C.-H. and Mead J.G. 2018. Crossing the equator: a northern occurrence of the pygmy right whale. *Zoological Letters *4:30 doi:10.1186/s40851-018-0117-8 Abstract Here we document the first stranding record of the pygmy right whale in the Northern Hemisphere—on the coast of The Gambia, Africa (NE Atlantic Ocean, around latitude 13° N)—a location in stark contrast to its current distribution exclusively south of the equator. The original specimen is now missing and untraceable, but a photo found in the files of the Marine Mammal Program, Smithsonian Institution shows sufficient diagnostic features that allow it to be taxonomically identified as the pygmy right whale, *Caperea marginata*, including: small body size; streamlined overall body shape; generally dark skin coloration; arched rostrum along the lateral margin; triangular and narrow rostrum in dorsal view; lack of head callosities; some fringes on the dorsal surface of the tongue; small and relatively posteriorly positioned dorsal fin; and small and dark-colored flipper. On the whole, a stranding of the pygmy right whale in the Northern Hemisphere, although likely to be a chance event, calls for more detailed studies of how climate change and ocean currents affect the evolution and distribution (re-patterning) of marine mammals and, ultimately, the entire marine ecosystem. The paper could be freely available: https://zoologicalletters.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40851-018-0117... Alternatively, if the link does not work, please just email me for a pdf copy: whaletsai@ntu.edu.tw or craniata@gmail.com Regards and all the best, Tsai 蔡政修（Cheng-Hsiu Tsai さい まさのぶ) Lab of evolution and diversity of fossil vertebrates（古脊椎動物演化及多樣性實驗室） Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University（台灣大學生命科學系） No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei, 106-17, Taiwan（台灣 106-17 台北市羅斯福路 4 段 1 號） Email: whaletsai@ntu.edu.tw; craniata@gmail.com; cheng-hsiu.tsai@otago.ac.nz