The Neophocaena Phocaenoides, also known as the finless porpoise is one of the six porpoise species.  They are blue-gray in the body, and very small.  They live in shallow coastal waters.  Finless Porpoise eat many things such as shrimp, fish, and squid.  Their population is small because their predators like us humans, kill them. 

 

 The finless porpoise as adults are a light gray color; the calves are blue-gray, however their colors darken after death.  They reach a maximum of 1.9m and weigh about 30-45 kg.  About 50% of finless porpoises’ have pink eyes.  They have curve mouths, and no dorsal fins.

 

Neophocaena Phocaenodies live in all major waters, like Indian, Western, and Pacific Ocean. They also live in lakes and rivers they only live in lakes unless they connect to rivers. Not only rivers and lakes, but shallow coastal waters too.  They look for boat traffic lights to find tiny fish. 

 

The finless porpoise have a population of 1,500.  The porpoises’ are often caught in fish nets because of us humans fishing.  Where finless porpoises’ live, the currents and boats are docked near there so they could feed on the fish caught by fishers.  They eat: fish, shrimp, squid, cuttlefish, and octopus.  They mostly get their food from Japan, or lakes/rivers.

 

Their predators are: humans, orcas, and large sharks.  In rivers, they leap and do tail stands.  They are opportunistic feeders, utilizing various food items in their habitat.  Finless porpoises carry their calves on their backs even while swimming.  Their behavior is not as energetic and showy as the dolphins are even though they are known to do tail stands.

 

The Finless Porpoises also known as Neophocaena Phocaenoides, is very unique, small, and are found in shallow coastal waters.  They are not only small but they have no dorsal fin. Finless porpoises are endangered species and are slowly getting smaller and smaller. 

 

Author: Rebecca Y

Date Published: 2/2011

Sources:

MarineBio.org. 14 February 2011 <http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=438>. Last updated: 11/8/2010; National Marine Fisheries Service. Web. 15, feburary 2011 <http://nmfs.noaa.gov/>; The Animal World.Chicago: World Book 2001

 

Photo Credit: finless-porpoise. Jpg, www.aboutmyplanet.com/environment