More on another indicator species we’ve not even really studied yet. The Harbor Porpoise
The 85 or so southern resident Orcas are doubtless the Sound’s most famous inhabitants… Yet of the Sound’s most populous whale or dolphin, we know only a little. As it turns out, local scientists are beginning to think that the Orca’s plebeian cousin, the harbor porpoise, may reveal much about the state of the Sound—and yet we scarcely bother to count or track them. Numbering more than 10,000 when last we checked a decade ago, harbor porpoises are genuine residents of the Sound. Unlike the jet-setting “resident” Orcas who in truth spend much of their time far from the Sound, a distinct population of harbor porpoises lives out their lives in the Salish Sea—eating, breeding, and raising their young solely in its waters.
Eric de Place blogs.
http://daily.sightline.org/2013/03/18/should-the-harbor-porpoise-be-the-new-orca/
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: porpoises, Puget Sound |
