Harbor Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena vomerina) Catching and Handling Large Fish on the U.S. West Coast

Elliser, Cindy R.; Hessing, Sanne; MacIver, Katrina; Webber, Marc A.; Keener, William

doi:10.1578/am.46.2.2020.191

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In Washington waters, the harbor porpoise's diverse, generalist diet ranges from small schooling to larger fish such as salmonids (Walker et al 1998, Elliser and Hall 2021). Although harbor porpoises were only observed chasing and catching and not ingesting salmon during presumed foraging activity (Elliser et al 2020), 5 passive integrated transponder tags and 91 coded wire tags from juvenile Chinook salmon were recovered from a stranded porpoise on the southwestern Washington coast (D'Alessandro and Duffield 2019). The late summer to early fall corresponds with salmon migration in Puget Sound and Hood Canal (National Marine Fisheries Service 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution, abundance, and density of harbor porpoises in Hood Canal, Washington

Rone,

Zerbini,

Falcone

et al. 2024

J Wildl Manag

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) are the only cetaceans routinely sighted in Hood Canal, a narrow fjord that comprises the western edge of Puget Sound, Washington, USA. Harbor porpoises are sensitive to anthropogenic sounds, including noise from recreational and commercial vessel traffic, and the United States Navy, which conducts military training and testing within Hood Canal that can include underwater sound sources. This study was funded as part of the Navy monitoring program to assess potential impacts of naval activities on cetaceans. We conducted vessel‐based line‐transect surveys for harbor porpoises in Hood Canal in 2022–2023 to derive seasonal estimates of abundance and density. We carried out surveys over 37 days and surveyed the entire canal twice per season totaling 2,176 km of on‐effort track line. We recorded 809 on‐effort harbor porpoise groups and 1,385 individuals. Seasonal abundance estimates were lowest in winter (308 animals, 95% CI = 189–503) and gradually increased through spring and summer to a peak of 1,336 animals (95% CI = 826–2,160) in fall. Overall porpoise density was highest in central Hood Canal, an area that includes a designated United States Navy training range, though porpoise sightings were notably absent in a 21‐km2 area adjacent to the naval submarine base within this otherwise high‐density region. Though we collected only a single year of data, these results suggest that harbor porpoise abundance in Hood Canal increased significantly since it was last estimated (2013–2015). The notable seasonal fluctuation of harbor porpoise abundance suggests Hood Canal may host a larger percentage of the overall Washington Inland Waters stock during the fall season, raising important management considerations.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution, abundance, and density of harbor porpoises in Hood Canal, Washington

Rone,

Zerbini,

Falcone

et al. 2024

J Wildl Manag

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…4 ). High-energy prey is probably crucial for maintaining a good health status for porpoises 8 , 40 , and particularly for mature females if they are to reproduce. Separating mature porpoises by their nutritional status (Table 1 ) showed that animals in good condition had a much higher mean energy density of prey in their diet than those in moderate or poor nutritional status.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some high-energy prey might be relatively hard to catch, as these live buried in the sediment (sandeels), or are fast swimmers (mackerel). Large prey with a high energy may also be dangerous to swallow 40 . Catching high-energy prey may thus require special skills or take considerably more effort.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutritional status and prey energy density govern reproductive success in a small cetacean

IJsseldijk

Hessing²,

Mairo

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A variety of mammals suppress reproduction when they experience poor physical condition or environmental harshness. In many marine mammal species, reproductive impairment has been correlated to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), the most frequently measured chemical pollutants, while the relative importance of other factors remains understudied. We investigate whether reproductively active females abandon investment in their foetus when conditions are poor, exemplified using an extensively studied cetacean species; the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena). Data on disease, fat and muscle mass and diet obtained from necropsies in The Netherlands were used as proxies of health and nutritional status and related to pregnancy and foetal growth. This was combined with published life history parameters for 16 other areas to correlate to parameters reflecting environmental condition: mean energy density of prey constituting diets (MEDD), cumulative human impact and PCB contamination. Maternal nutritional status had significant effects on foetal size and females in poor health had lower probabilities of being pregnant and generally did not sustain pregnancy throughout gestation. Pregnancy rates across the Northern Hemisphere were best explained by MEDD. We demonstrate the importance of having undisturbed access to prey with high energy densities in determining reproductive success and ultimately population size for small cetaceans.

show abstract

“…There have been only four dedicated diet studies in the Salish Sea (Baird et al, 1994;Walker et al, 1998;Hall, 2004;Nichol et al, 2013), along with other historical and current accounts of various prey items from stranded or bycaught individuals (Scheffer and Slipp, 1948;Wilke and Kenyon, 1952;Scheffer, 1953;Treacy, 1985;Gearin et al, 1994;D'Alessandro and Duffield, 2019, and observation of wild harbor porpoises Elliser et al, 2020a,b) (Table 2). Recent research has shown that salmon are being captured by harbor porpoises in the Salish Sea (Elliser et al, 2020b), and that salmon and American shad (Alosa sapidissima) are being ingested by harbor porpoises along the United States West Coast (D'Alessandro and Duffield, 2019;Elliser et al, 2020a). It is evident that the full spectrum of the diet of harbor porpoises is not fully understood, and updated large-sample diet studies are needed (Elliser et al, 2020a), which is critical to understand in order to quantify the effects of their competition with fisheries, and the potential consequences to harbor porpoise population survival.…”

Section: Knowledge Gaps and Threatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During photo-ID/behavioral surveys harbor porpoises were photographed capturing large salmonid species (Oncorhynchus sp.) in the Salish Sea and American shad in San Francisco Bay (Elliser et al, 2020b). Neither salmonidae species or American shad have previously been described as prey for harbor porpoises along the United States West Coast (except for a recent study showing an individual with tags from juvenile salmon in its forestomach, D'Alessandro and Duffield, 2019).…”

Section: Current Status/current Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Return of the Salish Sea Harbor Porpoise, Phocoena phocoena: Knowledge Gaps, Current Research, and What We Need to Do to Protect Their Future

Elliser¹,

Hall

2021

Front. Mar. Sci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) is one of the most abundant coastal cetacean species in the Northern Hemisphere with differential levels of regional knowledge. Gaps are particularly evident for the Pacific subspecies Phocoena phocoena vomerina. In the Salish Sea (a transboundary body of water spanning between Washington, United States and British Columbia (BC), Canada), there is a dearth of information on many aspects of the biology, ecology, behavior, sociality, and regionally specific threats. Here we present a case study of the Salish Sea harbor porpoise, combining historical and current research, from both BC and Washington, to provide a more holistic view of this species’ status, the knowledge continuum and gaps, risks from identified threats and what current research and collaborations are revealing about this enigmatic species. The Salish Sea harbor porpoise was abundant to the 1940s and 1950s, but by the 1990s their numbers were greatly reduced, and all but absent in some areas. By the early 2000s, numbers had resurged, and harbor porpoise are now once again found throughout much of the Salish Sea. Despite this, studies focused on Salish Sea harbor porpoises have been limited until recently. Current long-term research has been conducted from vessels and land in both Canada and the United States. Multi-faceted work using techniques including photo-identification (photo-ID), behavioral visual observations, acoustics, commercial fishery surveys, sighting reports, citizen science and other ecological data have provided insight into the seasonal variation in density and abundance, site fidelity, reproduction, by-catch rates, foraging and the identification of important habitats that are used intra- and inter-annually in this region. These may represent culturally and biologically significant habitats for Salish Sea harbor porpoise. Collaborations within and outside of the Salish Sea have revealed consistencies and dissimilarities between different communities or populations; indicating that some aspects are more uniform for the species, while others may be community or population specific. The importance of long-term broad and fine-scale research is highlighted, as well as recommendations to further close the knowledge gaps and reduce the known human threats within the Salish Sea.

show abstract

Harbor Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena vomerina) Catching and Handling Large Fish on the U.S. West Coast

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Distribution, abundance, and density of harbor porpoises in Hood Canal, Washington

Distribution, abundance, and density of harbor porpoises in Hood Canal, Washington

Nutritional status and prey energy density govern reproductive success in a small cetacean

Return of the Salish Sea Harbor Porpoise, Phocoena phocoena: Knowledge Gaps, Current Research, and What We Need to Do to Protect Their Future

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About