Wildlife
Harbour porpoises are the smallest and most common cetaceans in European waters. They are also one of the shortest lived, rarely surviving beyond 12 years of age. Harbour porpoises favour the shallow waters of coasts and estuaries and it is not uncommon for them to travel a considerable distance up river. Being social by nature, these porpoises travel and patrol for fish in small schools of around 12 individuals. Although they don't ever clear the water, they do break the surface in a smooth black arc, often making a loud noise as they blow.
Scientific name: Phocoena phocoena
Rank: Species
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Cardigan Bay dolphins
Mike Dilger goes dolphin spotting in Cardigan Bay.
Mike Dilger goes dolphin spotting in Cardigan Bay.
Knowledge is power
Finding out more locally may help protect the global harbour porpoise popluation.
One of the smallest of the oceanic cetaceans, the harbour porpoise is shy and elusive. As the name suggests, these animals tend to stay close to the shore and so have been hunted for centuries. Though still locally abundant, they are not as numerous as they once were. Substantial numbers are taken around Greenland for food and oil. Others become entangled in salmon and cod nets in the eastern North Atlantic, and in trawl and gill nets in the Pacific. Their numbers have been severely depleted in the Black and Baltic Seas by drive fisheries and netting. But it is the use of pesticides, the destruction of habitat from coastal development and boat traffic that are collectively responsible for the decline of most harbour porpoise populations. The more we find out now about the harbour porpoise, the more we might be able to help them in the future.
The Harbour porpoise can be found in a number of locations including: United Kingdom, Wales. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
The following habitats are found across the Harbour porpoise distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Least Concern
Population trend: Unknown
Year assessed: 2008
Classified by: IUCN 3.1
The harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) is one of six species of porpoise. It is one of the smallest marine mammals. As its name implies, it stays close to coastal areas or river estuaries, and as such, is the most familiar porpoise to whale watchers. This porpoise often ventures up rivers, and has been seen hundreds of miles from the sea. The harbour porpoise may be polytypic, with geographically distinct populations representing distinct races: P. p. phocoena in the North Atlantic and West Africa, P. p. relicta in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, an unnamed population in the northwest Pacific and P. p. vomerina in the northeast Pacific.
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Brackish water
Estuaries
Shallow seas
Open ocean
Rivers and streams
Migration
Adapted to swimming
Carnivorous
Acoustic communication
Maternal care
Pack-hunter
Active at birth
Social
Territorial
Echolocation and ultrasound
Visual communication
Viviparous