Marine mammal abundance and distribution in New Jersey’s nearshore waters are not well known due to limited dedicated studies. The first year-round systematic surveys were conducted to determine the spatial/temporal…
1. Diet studies of marine mammals typically summarise prey composition across all individuals studied. Variation in individual diets is usually ignored, but may be more than just “noise” around an…
Several studies have shown that pingers mitigate porpoise bycatch and thus pinger use is now mandatory in some fisheries—although the long-term effects of pinger exposure on porpoises have not been…
Along the Dutch shores hundreds of harbour porpoises Phocoena phocoena are stranded each year. A recurrent phenomenon in the Netherlands is a surge of strandings in late winter and early…
Morphological differentiation in skull shape in small toothed whales is sometimes explained as driven by differences in ontogeny or adaptation to a benthic or pelagic habitat. To test these hypotheses,…
Tidal-stream habitats present periodically fast-flowing, turbulent conditions. Evidence suggests that these conditions benefit top predators such as harbour porpoises Phocoena phocoena, presumably allowing them to optimise exploitation of prey resources.…
The UK Government was recently criticised for failing to fulfil its obligations under the Habitats Directive in respect of designating protected areas for Harbour Porpoise Phocoena phocoena. At the centre…
Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli) is a small toothed cetacean, widely inhabiting the North Pacific Ocean and adjacent seas, between about 30 and 62°N; however, only limited studies of its ecology…
The harbour porpoise, Phocoena phocoena, is one of the best studied cetacean species owing to its common distribution along the coastal waters of the Northern Hemisphere. In European waters, strandings…
Cetaceans are protected worldwide but vulnerable to incidental harm from an expanding array of human activities at sea. Managing potential hazards to these highly-mobile populations increasingly requires a detailed understanding…