Harbour Porpoise - Populations and Distribution

Populations and Distribution

The harbour porpoise species is widespread in cooler coastal waters of the North Atlantic, North Pacific and the Black Sea. The populations in these regions are not continuous and are classified as separate subspecies with P. p. phocoena in the North Atlantic and West Africa, P. p. relicta in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, an unnamed population in the northwest Pacific and P. p. vomerina in the northeast Pacific. Recent genetic evidence suggests the harbour porpoise population structure may be more complex, and they should be reclassified.

In the Atlantic, harbour porpoises may be present in a curved band of water running from the coast of West Africa to the coasts of Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and the eastern seaboard of the United States. There is a similarly-shaped band in the Pacific Ocean running from Sea of Japan, Vladivostok, the Bering Strait, Alaska and California. The harbour porpoise has a global population of 700,000. Areas with sizable numbers include the North Sea, where porpoises number at about 350,000; and well as the Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy area, the US west coast and Alaska.