MEPS

Marine Ecology Progress Series

MEPS is a leading hybrid research journal on all aspects of marine, coastal and estuarine ecology. Priority is given to outstanding research that advances our ecological understanding.

Online: ISSN 1616-1599

Print: ISSN 0171-8630

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps

Impact Factor2.1 (JCR 2025 release)

Article Acceptance Rate52.2% (2024)

Average Time in Review216 days (2024)

Total Annual Downloads2.927.122 (2025)

Volume contents
Mar Ecol Prog Ser 597:259-272 (2018)

Oceanic movements, site fidelity and deep diving in harbour porpoises from Greenland show limited similarities to animals from the North Sea

ABSTRACT: Harbour porpoises Phocoena phocoena are common in continental shelf areas of the North Atlantic, but little information is available on their occurrence outside coastal areas. In this study, 30 harbour porpoises were actively caught in West Greenland and instrumented with satellite transmitters to document their seasonal movements and diving behaviour. The porpoises displayed long-range oceanic movements within the North Atlantic, especially during winter/spring where they moved over areas with water depths >2500 m. While offshore, 2 females demonstrated an average maximum dive depth of 248 m, with the deepest dive reaching 410 m. This behaviour is in contrast to 71 porpoises tagged in Danish waters of the North Sea which did not leave the continental shelf but showed a preference for areas with shallow waters year round, even when at the edge of the continental shelf where greater depths were available. Six tags from Greenland transmitted long enough (up to 3 yr) to demonstrate extensive movements and strong site fidelity to the tagging site in West Greenland the following summer. This study documents that harbour porpoises use oceanic habitats and can dive to depths that enable mesopelagic foraging, while repeatedly demonstrating summer site fidelity to coastal areas.

KEYWORDS

Nynne H. Nielsen (Corresponding Author)

  • Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, 3900 Nuuk, Greenland
  • Aarhus University, Department of Bioscience, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark
nel@ghsdk.dk

Jonas Teilmann (Co-author)

  • Aarhus University, Department of Bioscience, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark

Signe Sveegaard (Co-author)

  • Aarhus University, Department of Bioscience, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark

Rikke G. Hansen (Co-author)

  • Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, 3900 Nuuk, Greenland

Mikkel-Holger S. Sinding (Co-author)

  • Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, 3900 Nuuk, Greenland

Rune Dietz (Co-author)

  • Aarhus University, Department of Bioscience, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark

Mads Peter Heide-Jørgensen (Co-author)

  • Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, 3900 Nuuk, Greenland