Harbor porpoise
(Norsk: Nise)
Phocoena phocoena
Population (Global) : Over 1,000,000
Conservation Status : Least Concern
Local populations seen all along the Norwegian coast inside fjords, in the Vestfjord area many individuals are seen throughout the year in the same area.
Identification: Small (1.2-1.9 meters), gray back with lighter sides & belly; small body size, triangular central medium-sized dorsal fin; dark stripe between mouth & flipper; rapid roll with little to no splash when surfacing, fjords seen from land
Group formation: Solitary – mother-calf pairs, groups of 2-5 seen
Size: 1.2-1.9m, calf 70-90 centimeters
Weight: 45-75 kilograms, calf 5-6 kilograms
Age: 8-10 years (oldest 24 years)
Gestation: 10-11 months
Weaning: 8-12 months
Sexual maturity: 3-4 years
Diet: small pelagic schooling fish such as herring, capelin, sprat, mackerel, sand eel, & silver hake, also cephalopods (squid & octopus).
Predators: Large sharks, Grey seals, Killer whales
Distribution: North Atlantic, North Pacific and the Black Sea, with several subspecies, they prefer temperate and subarctic waters, live in fjords, bays, estuaries and harbors.
Population: Global estimation of over a million individuals, 24,500 estimate in Norwegian coastal waters
Conservation Status: Least Concern (2020), Pop. trend: unknown
Gillnets, fishing gear, vessel traffic, chemical, plastic, and noise pollution, overfishing, climate change, whaling (Faeroe Islands, Greenland).
Below you find a recording of a Harbour porpoise swimming around in Lofoten, Norway. Unfortunately we don’t have any sound recordings to share yet.
