home : species guide : questions : sightings : news : links : gallery
				More Information on:
				Minke Whale
				(Balaenoptera acutorostrata)
				Bottlenose Dolphin
				(Tursiops truncatus)
				General Ecology

	More Information on Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)
	The harbour porpoise is generally found in estuaries and shallow coastal bays. In the Moray Firth, single animals, pairs and groups of 5 - 10 are most often seen. The pattern of colouring on the body is not sharply defined with the dark brown-grey on the back shading down the flanks through paler grey to white on the underside. There is a sharply defined black stripe from the eye to the pectoral fin. They can be active and fast moving, but are frequently shy and do not normally approach boats.
	They tend to be permanent residents in particular locations, moving from inshore to deeper feeding grounds where their diet includes mackerel, herring, sprays and squid. A single calf, measuring around 2.5 feet in length, is born in the summer months after a pregnancy lasting eleven months. Porpoises can be highly vocal and demonstrative, although you will never see them leaping out of the water or bow ride with a boat in the manner of dolphins. They may gambol alongside a slow moving vessel in small groups before cutting away at a sharp angle.
	There is some evidence of conflicts between porpoises and bottlenose dolphins in the Firth, but the cause and frequency of these are unknown