They are very shy and difficult to observe

Porpoise (Phocoena phocoen) is one of the smallest representatives of the order of Waleni, often confused with dolphin. Adults reach 1.5 to 1.8 meters long and weigh about 60 kilograms. They are characterized by a short, cut nose and a low, triangular dorsal fin, which distinguishes them from dolphins with a higher and sickle fin.

Morpox leads a very secretive lifestyle, swimming alone or in small groups of 2-3 individuals. Their small size, dustiness and the ability to stay under water long result in the fact that these mammals are very difficult to observe and count. That is why the main information about the presence of porpoises in Polish waters comes from finding dead individuals on the edges. – Each year, the Polish coast is recorded from one to ten such cases, caused by diseases, collisions with floating units or entanglement in the fishing network. On this basis, you try to estimate how many they actually live here. But these are not very precise data – said prof. Jan Marcin Węsławski, director of the Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Sopot.

As the expert added, now the porpoise in the Baltic Sea, and even more so in Polish waters, he is a guest and this is what he is under strict protection here. However, this species is not threatened with extinction in the world.

– Has the status of “the slightest care”. It is very numerous in the North Atlantic, where its population is several hundred thousand pieces. A lot of porpoises are also in the North Sea, about 40,000 individuals live in the Danish straits, i.e. between Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The individuals that are seen in the Baltic Sea were largely coming from there – the scientist said. He emphasized that talking about a separate, local porpoise population is therefore unfounded. – Simply when the porpoise population in the North Sea gets very numerous, young individuals are “pushed out” by the older ones and set off into the world to penetrate new territories. In this way they go to the Baltic. Most of them appear off the coast of Denmark, Germany and southern Sweden, sometimes they go to Poland. And the east it gives, towards Finland, the less they are – he explained. – We know this because on our coast we record several dead individuals a year, while on the Finnish coast it is a maximum of one piece. For comparison – in the North Sea, around Great Britain, there are about six thousand dead porpoises every year, which perfectly illustrates the difference in their numbers – he added.

Prof. Węsławski emphasized that the porpoise, of course, cannot be frightened, scared or even more hunting, but in the case of Polish waters there are also no scientifically justified reasons to introduce additional, complicated protective procedures for this species.

– It is not threatened globally, and individuals appearing around Poland are hardly carried out – he noted. In his opinion, EU regulations in force since 2022, imposing restrictions, e.g. on fishermen working in the North and northern Atlantic Sea, where thousands of porpoises die due to entanglement in the network, they do not fully apply in Polish conditions. It is especially about the order to use special deterrent devices (so -called pingerów) or restrictions on how to set up the network. – The problem is that the vast majority of Polish fishermen will not see the porpoise once. And yet suddenly they were burdened with regulations, which they think do not have a real justification, which leads to conflicts – explained prof. Węsławski. In his opinion, this situation can be compared to a fawn vulture that appears in Poland once every few years. – Sometimes it happens that individual individuals from the Alps, where their population is large and stable, arrive in ours Tatra Mountains. And because there are only guests here, it makes no sense to introduce special protective actions, build their nests, or to prohibit tourist traffic. Similarly, it is with porpoises – said the oceanologist. He emphasized that nature protection should always be based on reliable data and real threats, not emotions. – Each animal deserves protection and respect, but we should distinguish wisely when active actions are really needed, and when to care for the natural order in nature – he concluded.