Roadless Areas
Home/Species/ Dall's Porpoise

Phocoenoides dalli

(True, 1885)

Dall's Porpoise

G5Secure Found in 38 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105734
Element CodeAMAGF02010
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
CITESAppendix II
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassMammalia
OrderCetacea
FamilyPhocoenidae
GenusPhocoenoides
Other Common Names
Marsouin de Dall (FR)
Concept Reference
Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2017-02-09
Change Date2017-02-09
Range Extent Comments
North Pacific: infrequent north of 62 degrees North in Bering Sea; in west, north of Choshi and east-central Honshu, Japan, and in the Sea of Japan and southern Okhotsk Sea; in east, north from about 28 degrees north (usually north of 32 degrees North). TRUEI morph is most abundant off the Pacific coast of northern Japan and off the Kuril Islands.
Threat Impact Comments
Thousands were killed annually in the 1970s and 1980s in the Japanese salmon fishery. Unknown number are taken incidently in squid gillnet fisheries in the western North Pacific. During 1986-1989, in excess of 110,000 were taken directly in Japanese harpoon fishery (IUCN 1991).
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Sounds, inland passages, nearshore regions (usually in deep water), and the open sea.

Ecology

Usually travels in groups of 10-20 (also reported as 2-12), though aggregations of at least 200 (or thousands) have been reported. Frequently in association with Pacific white-sided dolphins or pilot whales (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983, Jefferson 1988).

Reproduction

Single calf is born mainly late June-September, though births may occur year-round in the eastern North Pacific. Gestation estimates: 7-9 months, 11.4 months. Calves nurse for a few months. Not all adult females become pregnant every year; nonbreeders may segregate from breeders. Males are sexually mature at 5-8 years, females at 3-7 years, depending on location. Most live less than 13 years.
Other Nations (2)
United StatesNU
ProvinceRankNative
WashingtonS4Yes
OregonSNAYes
AlaskaS4Yes
CanadaN5
ProvinceRankNative
British ColumbiaS4Yes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
5 - Biological resource use——High (continuing)
5.4 - Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources——High (continuing)
9 - Pollution——High (continuing)
9.1 - Domestic & urban waste water——High (continuing)
9.2 - Industrial & military effluents——High (continuing)
9.3 - Agricultural & forestry effluents——High (continuing)

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Roadless Areas (38)
Alaska (38)
AreaForestAcres
Behm IslandsTongass National Forest4,777
ChichagofTongass National Forest555,858
Chilkat-West Lynn CanalTongass National Forest199,772
Chugach-12Chugach National Forest8,116
Chugach-3Chugach National Forest27,386
Chugach-8Chugach National Forest21,559
ClevelandTongass National Forest189,447
College FiordChugach National Forest1,130,818
Copper River WetlandsChugach National Forest85,972
EudoraTongass National Forest195,022
Fidalgo-GravinaChugach National Forest257,968
Freshwater BayTongass National Forest44,933
FrostyTongass National Forest39,941
GravinaTongass National Forest37,381
Hoonah SoundTongass National Forest79,764
MadanTongass National Forest68,553
Mansfield PeninsulaTongass National Forest54,991
MontagueChugach National Forest204,875
MosmanTongass National Forest53,492
Nellie JuanChugach National Forest713,697
North EtolinTongass National Forest40,993
North KupreanofTongass National Forest114,660
North RevillaTongass National Forest215,430
Outer IslandsTongass National Forest99,862
Point AugustaTongass National Forest15,482
Port AlexanderTongass National Forest120,681
Prince William Sound Is.Chugach National Forest118,698
RhineTongass National Forest23,010
SecurityTongass National Forest31,428
South RevillaTongass National Forest52,105
South ZaremboTongass National Forest36,285
SullivanTongass National Forest67,323
Taku-SnettishamTongass National Forest664,928
Tenakee RidgeTongass National Forest20,527
Upper SitukTongass National Forest16,789
Windham-Port HoughtonTongass National Forest161,952
WoronkofskiTongass National Forest11,114
Yakutat ForelandsTongass National Forest323,648
References (11)
  1. American Society of Mammalogists (ASM). 2025. Mammal Diversity Database (Version 1.13) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10595931. Online. Available: https://www.mammaldiversity.org/
  2. Escorza-Treviño, S., L. A. Pastene, and A. E. Dizon. 2004. Molecular analyses of the <i>truei</i> and <i>dalli</i> morphotypes of Dall's porpoise (<i>Phocoenoides dalli</i>). Journal of Mammalogy 85:347-355.
  3. Gubbins, C. 2002. Use of home ranges by resident bottlenose dolphins (<i>Tursiops truncatus</i>) in a South Carolina estuary. Journal of Mammalogy 83: 178-187.
  4. IUCN (World Conservation Union). 1991. Dolphins, Porpoises and Whales of the World: the IUCN Red Data Book. M. Klinowska (compiler). IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, United Kingdom. viii + 429 pp.
  5. Jefferson, T. A. 1988. <i>Phocoenoides dalli</i>. Am. Soc. Mamm., Mammalian Species 319:1-7.
  6. Jefferson, T. A. 1990. Status of Dall's porpoise, <i>Phocoenoides dalli</i>, in Canada. Can. Field-Nat. 104:112-116.
  7. Leatherwood, S., and R. R. Reeves. 1983. The Sierra Club handbook of whales and dolphins. Sierra Club Books, San Francisco. 302 pp.
  8. Rice, D. W. 1998. Marine mammals of the world: systematics and distribution. Society for Marine Mammalogy, Special Publication Number 4. ix + 231 pp.
  9. Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
  10. Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 2005. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Third edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. Two volumes. 2,142 pp. [As modified by ASM the Mammal Diversity Database (MDD) at https://www.mammaldiversity.org/index.html]
  11. Winans, G. A., and L. L. Jones. 1988. Electrophoretic variability in Dall's porpoise in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. J. Mamm. 69:14-21.