Cetaceans and pinnipeds (southern North Sea only)

Nearly 40 cetaceans were observed in these months and all except a single unidentified dolphin were Harbour Porpoises Phocoena phocoena. Sightings were reported by CvZ and NIOZ (systematic surveys or counts) and by Peter Reijnders (RIN Texel) and Chris Smeenk (RMNH Leiden). All Porpoises are mapped below. The sightings of Porpoises during seawatching were rather early this winter. The last few years Porpoises were mainly seen in Jan and Feb. A pair of Porpoises could be seen at close range for a considerable period, working in the shallow water between the breakwaters. A trip along the Dutch and German Wadden Sea islands on board MV Navicula in Jan resulted into a number of sightings of Porpoises close to the islands. Remarkable was a series of strandings of White-beaked Dolphins Lagenorhynchus albirostris on the Wadden Sea islands and on the mainland coast this winter. Some of the dolphins were found stranded alive, other corpses were already in bad condition. Further details will be published by Smeenk in Lutra. Information for Recent Reports came from CvZ, NIOZ, NSO, RIN, and RMNH.