What happened with the harbor porpoise strandings on the East Coast in 1999?
There was a marked increase in the number of stranded harbor porpoises along the East Coast. Since January 1999, there have been 216 strandings reported. The previous highs for harbor porpoise strandings on the East Coast were 103 in 1977, 91 in 1994, and 75 in 1997. The attached tables provide detail on the strandings by state. The increase in strandings was highest in Massachusetts in January – February and in the Mid-Atlantic (MD-NC) in March and April. The effort to detect and examine strandings was increased significantly this year in Massachusetts, but was stable or decreased in the Mid-Atlantic. Most of the porpoises which stranded in Massachusetts were sub_adults, many were emaciated., and none showed evidence of human interactions. In contrast, a significant portion of the animals which stranded in the Mid-Atlantic had indications of human interactions (fishery by-catch – mesh size or fishery not determined by animal examination). Excluding the porpoises from Massachusetts, of
