The diet of harbour porpoises bycaught or washed ashore in Belgium, and relationship with relevant data from the strandings database

The harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena is currently the most abundant marine mammal in Belgian waters. Large-scale changes in the distribution of this top predator in the North Sea have occurred during the last decades, possibly caused by changes in food availability. An analysis of the strandings database 1970-2011, containing data on 737 harbour porpoises, revealed that throughout the year two peaks in strandings occurred: one in spring, for an important part caused by the strandings of animals incidentally bycaught in fishing gear, and a second one during summer. Most of the stranded animal... Mehr ...