Porpoise
Porpoises are a group of fully aquatic marine mammals, all of which are classified under the family Phocoenidae, parvorder Odontoceti (toothed whales). There are seven extant species of porpoise. They are small toothed whales that are very closely related to oceanic dolphins. The most obvious visible difference between the two groups is that porpoises have shorter beaks and flattened, spade-shaped teeth distinct from the conical teeth of dolphins. Porpoises, and other cetaceans, belong to the clade Cetartiodactyla with even-toed ungulates, and their closest living relatives are the hippopotamuses, having diverged from them about 40 million years ago,More info:wiki
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#10 To Save the Baltic Sea Harbor Porpoise, Scientists Try Listening,More info:hakaimagazine
In 1962, Swedish biologist Arne Lindroth worked his way through the stomachs of 50 harbor porpoises that had been caught in the Baltic Sea. He was searching for signs of salmon. Disgruntled fishermen, who had eagerly provided the specimens, were convinced the porpoises were eating all the salmon and threatening their catches. As it turned out, the cetaceans had been wrongfully accused. In the end, it was the fishermen who hurt the porpoise population, which has now almost completely disappeared.
Starting in the 1950s, increases in fishing activity led to declines in prey availability and increases in the rate of porpoises being caught as by-catch. This, along with hunting and increasing pollution, contributed to the Baltic Sea population of this porpoise becoming critically endangered. Now, scarce sightings, falling numbers in observational studies, and even a drop in by-catch rates all suggest the porpoises are undergoing a severe population decline in this region. But the porpoises’ exact number is unknown, as is their geographic distribution. Without such basic information, conservation measures have been hamstrung. So, scientists from eight countries have teamed up to build a vast network of listening stations across the Baltic Sea—the largest purpose-built acoustic monitoring array for marine mammals in the world—to track the porpoises with unprecedented clarity
#9 Harbour porpoise,More info:wikipedia
#8 Harbour Porpoise, Phocoena phocoena, HNÍSA,More info:nat
Adult males weigh about 7 kg and are less than 2 m long. Females are equally long and weigh 55-60 kg. Life expectancy is about 30 years. The upper body is dark grey, the sides lighter, and the underbelly white. Dark stripes between the small flippers and the mouth. The dorsal fin is a low triangle. Each jaw has 40-60 paddle-like teeth. Diving time is usually 2-6 minutes and the whale dives down to 10-100 m for food. Its diet is mainly fish, but also squid and krill. Porpoises (Lat. Phocoena phocoena) are found in shoals of 2-10, but sometimes 200-300 are seen together. They seldom leap out of the water.
World population unknown
The main habitats of the porpoises are in the northern seas, the Atlantic- and Pacific Oceans. Females reach puberty at the age of 3-4 and males later. Usually each cow gives birth to one calf every year and the gestation period is 10-11 months. Harbour porpoises were caught all around the country, especially off the Breidafiord Bay and the Westfiords. It often is tangled up in lumpfish nets and the meat is used. It is exploited off the coasts of Washington, Canada and Greenland. The world population is unknown. The harbour porpoise is probably endangered by the increasing pollution of the oceans.
#7 Saving the Yangtze Finless Porpoise – Al Jazeera Earthrise,More info:vimeo
A mini-doc I shot and co-directed with Ellen Xu on the efforts to save the Yangtze Finless Porpoise, a critically endangered species of dolphin that lives in China’s Yangtze river. Overfishing, industrial pollution, river traffic and rampant sand dredging along Asia’s second longest river has brought the number believed alive in the wild to just 1,000. Our trip with presenter Di To took us to Wuhan city, the heavily polluted Dongting Lake and Tianezhou, an oxbow lake once connected to the Yangtze that has become a safe haven for the porpoise. We focus on the efforts of inspiring individuals like senior researcher Wang Ding to stop the porpoise going the same way as its cousin the Baiji dolphin, which once swam the same waters but was declared functionally extinct in 2006. It’s not just a story about one species. This beautiful creature is an ‘indicator species’ for the Yangtze, so its decline should send a sharp warning about the threat to river’s entire ecosystem.
#6 The world’s smallest (and cutest) porpoise is close to extinction,More info:washingtonpost
The vaquita is the world’s rarest marine mammal. In 2014, researchers counted just 100 remaining members of the Mexican species — down from 200 in 2012 — and estimated that the population would decline by 20 percent more each year. Sure enough, on Friday the Mexican government reported that just 60 porpoises remain, despite a May 2015 two-year ban on the use of gillnets that frequently kill them.
#5 UK failing to protect its porpoises and must create more conservation zones, European court rules,More info:independent
A European court has ruled that the UK has not been properly protecting its declining population of harbour porpoises.
EU law requires the UK to create special sites for the protection of these animals, which are often sighted around coastal waters and at the mouths of estuaries.
Porpoise numbers have been falling rapidly due to a variety of threats including tangling in fishing gear, chemical pollution and disruptive boat noise.
#4 Interesting Porpoise Facts,More info:Health Apta
#3 Dolphins and Porpoises: They’re Different!,More info:animals.howstuffworks
Dolphins and porpoises are different. You probably figured this was true, even though when you picture them in your mind’s eye, they look exactly the same. Admit it.
But it turns out, dolphins and porpoises are very different. Both are highly intelligent and communicate by sonar, which is produced through a bulbous structure on the front of their heads called a melon. While there are many more species of dolphin out there — 32 species compared to the six known porpoise species — they both belong, like whales, to a group of marine mammals called Cetacea (from the Greek work ketos, “large sea creature”), the closest living relative of which are hippopotamuses. But if you were to look at a dolphin and a porpoise side by side, you’d likely say to yourself, “oh, that’s not what I thought a porpoise looked like at all!”
#2 Fears for Dublin Bay porpoises as work starts on dredging Port of one million tonnes of material,More info:thejournal
CAMPAIGNERS HAVE VOICED their concerns about the safety of the Dublin Bay porpoise as Dublin Port commences dredging.
The Dublin Port Company (DPC) plans to remove up to a million tonnes of material from the port and dump it near Howth in order to keep the port deep enough for large naval vessels.
DPC says that the maintenance dredging process, which starts today, will last for between two to four weeks. Maintenance dredging is the periodic removal of sediments and is vital for many ports.
#1 Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises of the MBNMS,More info:montereybay.noaa
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