Harbour Porpoise | ||||||||||||||||
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Scientific Classification | ||||||||||||||||
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Binomial name | ||||||||||||||||
'Phocoena phocoena |
The Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) is one of six species of porpoise, and so one of about eighty cetacean species. The Harbour Porpoise, as its name implies, stays close to coastal areas or river estuaries and as such is the most familar porpoise to whale-watching enthusiasts. This porpoise often ventures up rivers and has been seen hundreds of miles from the sea
The species is sometimes known as the Common Porpoise in texts originating in the United Kingdom, though this usage appears to be dying out in favour of the American terminology.
Table of contents |
2 Population and distribution 3 Conservation |
Physical description
Population and distribution
The species is widespread in cooler coastal waters in the Northern Hemisphere, largely in areas with a mean temperature of about 15 degrees Centigrade. In the Atlantic, Harbour Porpoises may be present in a concave band of water running from the coast of western Africa round to the eastern seaboard of the United States, including the coasts of Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland. There is a similarly-shaped band in the Pacific Ocean running from Sea of Japan, Vladivostock, the Bering Strait, Alaska and down to Seattle and Vancouver. There are diminishing populations in the Black and Baltic Seas.