COSEWIC Status Reports (2017)
Wildlife Species Description and Significance The Pacific Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena vomerina) is the smallest cetacean in British Columbia (BC), ranging from 1.5 to 1.6 m and 45 to 60…
The effects of marine traffic on the behaviour of Black Sea harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena relicta) within the Istanbul Strait, Turkey
Akkaya Bas, Aylin; Christiansen, Fredrik; Öztürk, Ayaka Amaha; Öztürk, Bayram; McIntosh, Caley
PLOS ONE (2017)
Marine traffic is threatening cetaceans on a local and global scale. The Istanbul Strait is one of the busiest waterways, with up to 2,500 vessels present daily. This is the…
Habitat preferences among three top predators inhabiting a degraded ecosystem, the Black Sea
Sánchez-Cabanes, Alicia; Nimak-Wood, Maja; Harris, Nicola; de Stephanis, Renaud
Scientia Marina (2017)
This study investigated whether there is evidence of widespread niche partitioning based on environmental factors in the Black Sea and tested the hypothesis that physiographic factors may be employed as…
Tissue partition and risk assessments of trace elements in Indo-Pacific finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides) from the Pearl River Estuary coast, China
Zhang, Xiyang; Lin, Wenzhi; Yu, Ri-Qing; Sun, Xian; Ding, Yulong; Chen, Hailiang; Chen, Xi; Wu, Yuping
Chemosphere (2017)
Throughout the last few decades, an increased number of stranded marine mammals, particularly the Indo-Pacific Finless Porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides), were observed in the Pearl River Estuary (PRE). As long-lived, apex…
Characterization of milk composition in narrow-ridged finless porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis) at different lactation stages
Zeng, Xianyuan; Huang, Shiang-lin; Qian, Zhengyi; Hao, Yujiang; Wang, Ding; Ji, Junhua; Nabi, Ghulam
Marine Mammal Science (2017)
Lactation plays a vital role in reproductive success, evolving with ecological adaptations of mammalian life histories. Knowledge of the lactation process in odontocetes is scarce and limited to a handful…
Records of anomalously white harbour porpoises and atypical pigmented short-beaked common dolphin in the Georgian Black Sea waters
Kopaliani, Natia; Gurielidze, Zurab; Ninua, Levan
Journal of the Black Sea/Mediterranean Environment (2017)
In Georgian territorial waters of the Black Sea, three leucistic harbour porpoises and one piebald short beaked common dolphin were spotted during the years 2012-2016. All images of the specimens…
The evolution of genital shape variation in female cetaceans
Orbach, Dara N.; Hedrick, Brandon; Würsig, Bernd; Mesnick, Sarah L.; Brennan, Patricia L. R.
Evolution (2017)
Male genital diversification is likely the result of sexual selection. Female genital diversification may also result from sexual selection, although it is less well studied and understood. Female genitalia are…
Persistent organic pollutant and hormone levels in harbor porpoise with B cell lymphoma
Norman, Stephanie A.; Winfield, Zach C.; Rickman, Barry H.; Usenko, Sascha; Klope, Matthew; Berta, Susan; Dubpernell, Sandra; Garrett, Howard; Adams, Mary Jo; Lambourn, Dyanna; Huggins, Jessica L.; Lysiak, Nadine; Clark, Adelaide E.; Sanders, Rebel; Trumble, Stephen J.
Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (2017)
B-cell lymphoma, a common morphologic variant of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, has been associated with persistent pollutants in humans, but this association is not well-characterized in top-level predators sharing marine resources with…
Metazoan parasites from odontocetes off New Zealand: New records
Lehnert, Kristina; Randhawa, Haseeb; Poulin, Robert
Parasitology Research (2017)
Information about the parasite fauna of spectacled porpoises and cetaceans from New Zealand waters in general is scarce. This study takes advantage of material archived in collections of the Otago…
Harbour porpoise distribution can vary at small spatiotemporal scales in energetic habitats
Benjamins, Steven; van Geel, Nienke; Hastie, Gordon; Elliott, Jim; Wilson, Ben
Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography (2017)
Marine habitat heterogeneity underpins species distribution and can be generated through interactions between physical and biological drivers at multiple spatiotemporal scales. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) is used worldwide to study…