Harbour porpoises Phocoena phocoena are unintentionally caught in gillnets. Although the effectiveness of by-catch mitigation measures has been evaluated many times, only a few studies have investigated the behavioural patterns…
The distribution of marine predators is tightly coupled with that of their prey, and may also be affected by interactions between competing predators. In order to adopt an ecosystem approach…
A key component in the operation of a biosonar system is the radiation of sound energy from the sound producing head structures of toothed whales and microbats. The current view…
Harbour porpoises are the most common small cetaceans in the North Sea and Dutch coastal waters. To study their trophic level and feeding location, stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios…
High-resolution X-ray computed tomographic scans were used to examine pterygoid sinus morphology within extant porpoise species and one delphinid (Tursiops truncatus), in order to consider: 1) intraspecific and interspecific variation…
Monitoring abundance and population trends of small odontocetes is notoriously difficult and labor intensive. There is a need to develop alternative methods to the traditional visual line transect surveys, especially…
High stranding frequency of porpoises, Phocoena phocoena, along the Dutch coast since 2006 has led to increased interest in the ecology of porpoises in the North Sea. Stranded porpoises were…
Since 2005, harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) sightings in the lower course of the river Weser have been reported after decades of apparent absence. The aim of this study was to…
Between mid-July and early August, an unusual mass mortality of cetaceans was detected on the Turkish Western Black Sea coast. 114 cetaceans (53 harbour porpoises, 9 common dolphins, 7 bottlenose…
During ship surveys harbor porpoises are only visible when breaking the sea surface to breathe, while during aerial surveys they may be seen down to 2 m below the surface.…