Washington mammals

Dall's porpoise in Washington

Phocoenoides dalli

Native to Washington S4 Apparently Secure in Washington

Not listed as nonindigenous in Washington by USGS NAS; native to its Washington range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Phocoenoides dalliDall's porpoise Alaska 2009 124Dall's PorpoiseDall's Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli)Dall's Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli)Dall's Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli)
Photo: Susan E Adams · CC BY-SA 2.0Phocoenoides dalliPhoto: User:NancyHeise · Public domainDall's porpoise Alaska 2009 124Photo: Brocken Inaglory · CC BY-SA 3.0Dall's PorpoisePhoto: Pavel Smirnov · CC BY 4.0Dall's Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli)Photo: Поляков Александр · CC BY 4.0Dall's Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli)Photo: Griha Hasanov · CC BY 4.0Dall's Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli)

Dall's porpoise in Washington, by the numbers

Occasional in Washington 96th most recorded of 145 mammals logged in Washington

74 occurrence records
25 with iNaturalist photos
May 5, 2026 Last seen in Washington

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Dall's porpoise in Washington

Most sightings fall in April to May.

74 Washington occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Washington records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February1
March2
April10
May14
June8
July3
August9
September14
October6
November4
December3

Monthly dall's porpoise occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Washington, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Washington, with recorded sightings peaking in April–May, with a smaller rise in August–September.

Occurrence map

Where Dall's porpoise has been recorded in Washington

74 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

74 Washington records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
San Juan Islands National Monument 11
Daniel J. Evans Wilderness Area 3
Fort Flagler 1

Protected places with the most dall's porpoise sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in Washington

CountyRecords
Clallam County 10
San Juan County 9
Grays Harbor County 6
Pierce County 4
Jefferson County 2
Mason County 1
Pacific County 1
Island County 1
Kitsap County 1
Thurston County 1
Other localities 38

The complete county distribution, spread across 10 Washington counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

The Washington record for dalls porpoise comprises 74 submissions across the 2000–2026 window. Only 25 are research-grade iNaturalist records, while GBIF contributes 65; the archive-to-community-science imbalance is important here. The atlas sorts this file into position 86 among 126 Washington mammals.

The time series rises highest in September (14) and is thinnest in January (0). The most concrete location detail is San Juan Islands National Monument, associated with 1 record. Together these are submitted-record patterns, not evidence of Washington population size.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Phocoenoides dalli
Full species profile Dall's porpoise Phocoenoides dalli Size 1.7–2.4 m5.6–7.9 ft Weight 100–220 kg220.5–485 lb Lifespan Up to 22 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Washington in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
  • USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"