Harbour Porpoise

The harbour porpoise is one of eight extant species of porpoise and one of the smallest species of cetacean. As its name implies, it stays close to coastal areas or river estuaries, making it the most familiar porpoise to whale watchers, and it often ventures up rivers, having been seen hundreds of kilometers from the sea; the species may be polytypic, with geographically distinct populations representing distinct races, including Phocoena phocoena phocoena in the North Atlantic and West Africa, Phocoena phocoena relicta in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, an unnamed population in the northwestern Pacific and Phocoena phocoena vomerina in the northeastern Pacific.