Harbour porpoise: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the harbour porpoise lives – recorded in 17 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Phocoena phocoena
Group	Whales & dolphins
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	17 countries
Continents	Asia, Europe, North America
Lifespan	9 years
Class	Mammal
Order	Artiodactyla
Family	Phocoenidae

Where does the harbour porpoise live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the harbour porpoise in 17 countries and territories across Asia, Europe and North America.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

How long does a harbour porpoise live?

Wikidata records a life expectancy of 9 years for the harbour porpoise.

Is the harbour porpoise endangered?

The harbour porpoise’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the harbour porpoise?

The harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) is a mammal in the order Artiodactyla and the family Phocoenidae, genus Phocoena. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the harbour porpoise

The harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) is one of eight extant species of porpoise. It is one of the smallest species of cetacean. As its name implies, it stays close to coastal areas or river estuaries, and as such, is the most familiar porpoise to whale watchers. This porpoise often ventures up rivers, and has been seen hundreds of kilometres from the sea. The harbour porpoise may be polytypic, with geographically distinct populations representing distinct races: 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 northwestern Pacific and P. p. vomerina in the northeastern Pacific.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Harbour porpoise (revision 1381047066), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q27027 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).