HARBOR PORPOISE (Phocoena phocoena): Gulf of Alaska Stock Revised 8/8/97 STOCK DEFINITION AND GEOGRAPHIC RANGE In the eastern North Pacific Ocean, the

• Main Author: Bering Sea
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Gulf of Alaska; Pacific; Barrow; Phocoena phocoena; Point Barrow; Alaska
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.294.7846; http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/sars/ak1997poha-ga.pdf

harbor porpoise ranges from Point Barrow, along the Alaska coast, and down the west coast of North America to Point Conception, California (Gaskin 1984). The harbor porpoise primarily frequents coastal waters. Relatively high densities of harbor porpoise have been recorded along the coasts of Washington and northern Oregon and California. Relative to the waters off the west coast of the continental U. S., harbor porpoise do not occur in high densities in Alaska waters (Dahlheim et al. submitted). Stock discreteness in the eastern North Pacific was analyzed using mitochondrial DNA from samples collected along the west coast (Rosel 1992) and is summarized in Osmek et al. (1994). Two distinct mitochondrial DNA groupings or clades exist. One clade is present in California, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska (no samples were available from Oregon), while the other is found only in California and Washington.