Community Corner

Young Harbor Porpoise Washes Ashore at Fisherman's

The town animal control officer collected measurements from the dead juvenile porpoise for the New England Aquarium.

 

A harbor porpoise washed up on the rocks at the far end of Thursday morning, the third dead porpoise in the last nine months to beach on local shores.

Town

Find out what's happening in Swampscottwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

She sends the data to the New England Aquarium.

Unlike the other porpoises, this one was relatively fresh and found just inside Lincoln House Point.

Find out what's happening in Swampscottwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The officer finished her work by writing the date on the side of the animal with a grease pen and hauling the animal to the water's edge to let nature take its course.

The date indicates that the animal's measurements have already been documented.

When full grown, harbor porpoises are about 5 feet 6 inches and weigh about 160 pounds.

They are dark on top and white on bottom. The two colors camouflage the animals, protecting them from predators above and below, Katie Pugliares said earlier. She is a senior biologist with the New England Aquarium's stranding program and was out of the office Thursday.

Aquarium workers are likely busy responding to the rash of beached dolphins on Cape Cod. About 100 dolphins have beached on Cape shores in the past two weeks.

Harbor porpoises are native to these waters.

The porpoise was discovered by Swampscott resident, and Patch correspondent, Scot Cooper, who was on the beach with his dogs Thursday morning.

Originally, he discovered an injured duck, a grebe, and reported it to authorities. Soon thereafter he found the porpoise. 

The animal comtrol officer collected the grebe but it ended up dying.

The aquarium asks for the public's help if they see beached sea mammals or turtles.

"If you see a live or dead seal, porpoise, dolphin, whale or sea turtle, please call the New England Aquarium at 617-973-5247," Pugliares said earlier.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here