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Indo-pacific finless porpoise 
Neophocaena phocaenoides

Lifespan:
33 years
IUCN:
Vulnerable in worldwide range, unknown in Cambodia

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All About N.phocaenoides

Distribution 

  • Widespread coastal population from the Persian Gulf, through SE Asia and North to Korea and Japan

  • Commonly occupy the same habitat as Irrawaddy Dolphins, inhabiting estuarine waters as well as mangrove forests. Have been found 1600 km inland in the Yangtze river.

  • Studies being done by KOL to identify population and habitat of finless porpoise in cambodia

Description 

  • Max size: adult male 170cm (70kg), newborns: 75cm

  • Finless, beakless and extremely streamline

  • Dark grey with paler throats and underbellies

  • Wide-flat dorsal ridge

  • Steep rounded forehead with a bulbous melon - short mouthline curved upwards giving smiling appearance - relatively small eyes for animal size

  • Flexible body with large fluke and pectoral fins

Behaviour and Ecology

Usually sighted as trios or groups of up to 6; largest aggregation recorded around 50 individuals

Does not positively interact with boats - generally a shy species

Usually travels just below the surface of the water with erratic movements 

Diet: very opportunistic feeders taking a range of benthic and surface dwelling fish, crustaceans and cephalopods

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Main Threats

Water traffic

Heavy boat traffic and coastal disturbances affect porpoise health and distribution as porpoises are hypersensitive to boat noise and are extremely susceptible to vessel strikes

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Bycatch
The largest threat to finless porpoise worldwide - thousands are caught every year in accidental bycatch; in some areas as a result are eaten or sold to captivity programs

 

 Click here to learn more about our

Bycatch and Stranding Network

Fun facts

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Indo-Pacific finless porpoise show diverse regional differenced with the 2 other subspecies; the Yangtze and Chinese finless porpoise, differing in average size and colouration

The unknown!

Specific threats to marine mammals in Cambodia is still relatively unknown; work is being done buy KOL to identify these threats and how we can mitigate them in the future​

Click here to see our current research!​

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