Harbor Porpoise

Harbor Porpoise

The Harbor Porpoise, or scientifically called the Phocoena phocoena, is one of six species of porpoise. It is one of the smallest ocean mammals in the oceanic world. As you can see from its name, 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 species is sometimes known as the Common Porpoise in texts originating in the United Kingdom, though this usage appears to be fading away and isn’t used as much anymore.

The Harbor Porpoise is a little smaller than the other porpoises. It is about 67 to 85 cm or 26 to 33 inches long at birth. Male and females can grow up to be 1.4 meters to 1.9 meters or roughlu 4.6 to 6.2 ft. So as you can see the harbor porpoises grow to about the same size as a average to taller human. The females are normally heavier though, with a maximum weight of around 76 kilograms or about 167 pounds compared with the males who can weigh up to about 61 kilograms or around 134 pounds. The body is very beefy and the animal is at its maximum girth just in front of its triangular dorsal fin. The beak is poorly demarcated. The flippers, dorsal fin, tail fin and back are a dark grey. The sides are a slightly speckled lighter grey. The underside is much whiter, though there are usually grey stripes running along the throat from the underside of the mouth to the flippers. The harbor porpoise reaches it’s sexual maturity at about 3 to 4 years old. The gestation period lasts for about 11 months and the calves must be nursed for about 8 months. It’s been found that the Harbor Porpoises can live up to as long as 25 years.

The species is widespread in cooler coastal waters in the Northern Hemisphere, and for the most part stays in areas with a mean temperature of about 15 degrees Celsius, which is about 60 degree Farenheit. In the Atlantic, Harbor 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 western Europe for example, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland. In prehistoric times this animal was hunted by the Alby People of the east coast of Oland, Sweden. There is a similarly-shaped band in the Pacific Ocean running from Sea of Japan, Vladivostok, the Bering Strait, Alaska and down Northwestern parts of the United States. There are decreasing populations in the Black and Baltic Seas. Very rarely would the Harbor Porpoise stray from these locations and have rarely been found in other locations. So if you were to find a Harbor Porpoise you would be best off looking in the above locations.

The Harbor Porpoise for the most part feeds on small fish like herring, capelin, and sprat. The young porpoise’s and the baby porpoises need to eat roughly 7% to 8% of their totally body weight each day in order to survive. The Harbor Porpoise has been recorded for diving 224 meters, or 735 feet, that is the deepest dive recorded for the harbour porpoise. Animals that hunt the harbour porpoise include well known sea animals, like the white shark and