Harbour Porpoise
*** Canadian Management plan - see threats.
*** SARA information on harbour porpoise.
BC Cetacean Sightings Network species information - click “Species ID” at top of the page and see link for Harbour Porpoise http://wildwhales.org/speciesid/
Threats facing harbour porpoise from the BC Cetacean Sightings Network
Species information by the Hakai Institute “Central Coast Biodiversity” http://www.centralcoastbiodiversity.org/marine-mammals.html
Harbour porpoise listed as of “special concern” from BC Cetacean Sightings Network
Video of large group of harbour porpoise
http://www.marinemammal.org/biology/harbor-porpoise/ North Pacific University's Marine Mammal Research Consortium's excellent fast facts; also click "research"
Voices of the Sea - information includes sounds of harbour porpoise. Click on the porpoise and then click on the harbour porpoise at the bottom of the page.
See information from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.
Rare fungal disease in porpoises; also addressed in this article - Vancouver Sun; February 20, 2012; “Land-based pathogens found in marine mammals - fear funding cuts for investigations may affect human, animal health”
Carla Crossman’s research on hybrid Dalls porpoise / harbour porpoise which suggests that hybridization is far more common than thought and that the hybrids are also a result of a Dalls porpoise father and harbour porpoise mother! http://www.int-res.com/articles/esr2015/26/n026p001.pdf and http://t.co/Q0610DxB
Harbour porpoise and entanglement
Lesson plan on harbour porpoise by J. Hildering and Anna Hall with a focus on the potential impacts of noise pollution.
American Cetacean Society information (see link on left) http://acsonline.org/education/fact-sheets/
“Whales in Crisis” - 1 hr long National Geographic movie; includes the possible impacts of military sonar on cetaceans (interviews with Ken Balcomb when military sonar used in Puget Sound in 2003 and harbour porpoise stranded).
http://www.marinemammal.org/steller_sea_lion/harborporpoise/fastfacts.php- North Pacific information
Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) assessment. See http://www.cosewic.gc.ca/eng/sct1/index_e.cfm and do a search for the common name of the animal you are studying. Proceed to "details" for the animal.
http://www.speciesatrisk.gc.ca/search/speciesDetails_e.cfm?SpeciesID=493 - threats to Canada' s harbour porpoise
DFO publication: Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises of British Columbia, Canada - http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/241969.pdf
http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/species-especes/species/species_harbourporpoise_e.asp - DFO pages on threats and natural history. Good summary.
"Smart Gear" = net technology to reduce chance of entanglement of small cetaceans.
http://www.killerwhale.ca/animals-harbour.html - Information from Environment Canada 2004
Pacific Wildlife Foundation’s species information. Everything from distribution maps to behaviour
http://www.pwlf.org/harbourporpoise/identification.htm - Identification guide from Pacific Wildlife Foundation
http://www.marinemammal.org/steller_sea_lion/harborporpoise/fastfacts.php- North Pacific information
http://www.crru.org.uk/education/factfiles/hporpoise.htm - Scottish Cetacean Research and Rescue Unit's information
http://www.wdcs.org/dan/publishing.nsf/allweb/A59B71D6C8A9EB17802568F800443577 - Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society's species information. Click "porpoises." Not a BC page.
http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/HarborPorpoise.htm - from the American Cetacean Society
Video
- Large group
- http://www.bostonharbor.com/HarborPorpoise.html
- http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/mammals/Phocoena_phocoena/Phocoena_phocoena_00.html?movietype=wmMed
http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/bis/marine_mammals.php?selected=beschrijving&menuentry=soorten&record=Phocoena%20phocoena - lots of detail about identification some information about behaviour and threats. An international webpage.
http://www.ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jaap/phocoena.htm Not a Canadian page
http://www.imma.org/porpoise.html - fact sheet Not a Canadian page
http://www.dosits.org/animals/intro.htm - study how marine mammals make sound and how sound effects them.
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Phocoena_phocoena.html Not a Canadian page
http://www.cms.int/reports/small_cetaceans/data/P_phocoena/p_phocoena.htm - this is a report by the Convention on Migratory Species looking at the threats to small cetaceans internationally. See the bottom of the document for threats.
http://www.junglewalk.com/frames.asp - type in "harbor porpoise" (note spelling) in the search bar and you will get links to pictures and video
www.oceanlink.island.net - Bamfield Research Station’s detailed marine biology page search for your species
http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/intermediate.asp?curGroupID=5 - Click "marine mammals" and do a search for your animal. Not a Canadian page