Out of Sight, Out of Mind: How Conservation Is Failing European Porpoises
Journal: Frontiers in Marine Science
Year: 2021

The conservation of harbor porpoises ( Phocoena phocoena ) appears to be failing in Europe. There are particular concerns about this species in the Baltic Proper, Black, and Mediterranean Seas, as well as in the Northeast Atlantic, including the Iberian population, off the Spanish and Portuguese coasts. The Baltic Proper porpoise is “critically endangered,” with a population only in the low hundreds, and the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission has repeatedly called for a