We raise public awareness for and educate people of all ages about porpoises and conservation threats affecting these animals.
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Volunteers educating students about porpoises at the VSB Sustainability Conference 2016.

Porpoises tend to get less attention than their more popular cousins of the whale and dolphin family. They are not as charismatic and acrobatic as dolphins, not as impressive in size as killer whales or humpback whales. And yet they are highly intelligent and social animals that can be found in all of our oceans, and they are an important part of the ecosystem. Some even live right in our ocean backyards, mostly undetected.

It is our mission to raise awareness for this unique group of animals and the challenges they face in our changing oceans. We want to raise their profile and inspire conservation action.

We encourage and engage in all areas of scientific research involving porpoises.

In a rapidly changing world, we need good science to help preserve biodiversity.

A lack of scientific understanding of any animal, terrestrial or aquatic, impedes conservation efforts. For several species of porpoise scientists lack even the most basic information to inform conservation initiatives or species management decisions. For some species we cannot tell how many animals there are, and for some we do not even know exactly where they live. Even for the best-studied species, the harbour porpoise, we have more questions than answers.

We want to help close data gaps, through research of our own, or by contributing to existing research initiatives.

Learn more about research