New York mammals

Harbour Porpoise in New York

Phocoena phocoena

Native to New York S4 Apparently Secure in New York

Not listed as nonindigenous in New York by USGS NAS; native to its New York 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.

Phocoena phocoena.2Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)
Photo: Erik Christensen · CC BY-SA 3.0Phocoena phocoena.2Photo: David Weisenbeck · CC BY 4.0Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)Photo: David Weisenbeck · CC BY 4.0Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)Photo: Felix Meyer · CC BY 4.0Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)

Harbour Porpoise in New York, by the numbers

Rare in New York 80th most recorded of 102 mammals logged in New York

59 occurrence records
7 with iNaturalist photos
Oct 6, 2025 Last seen in New York

Records from 2000–2026.

59 total records count every New York occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the monthly chart covers the 57 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Harbour Porpoise in New York

Most sightings fall in March to April.

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

Monthly New York records (table)
MonthRecords
January9
February6
March12
April16
May5
June3
July1
August1
September1
October1
November0
December2

Monthly harbour porpoise occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in New York, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in New York, with recorded sightings peaking in March–April.

Occurrence map

Where Harbour Porpoise has been recorded in New York

59 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

53 New York records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Jones Beach State Park 1
Fire Island National Seashore 1

Protected places with the most harbour 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 New York

CountyRecords
Suffolk County 31
Nassau County 9
New York County 1
Richmond County 1
Queens County 1
Monroe County 1
Other localities 15

The complete county distribution, spread across 6 New York counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Harbour porpoises carry a NatureServe S4 apparently secure rank in New York’s coastal waters, and the record leans overwhelmingly on GBIF (58 of 59 records), meaning stranding networks and survey data, not people spotting porpoises offshore, document nearly everything known about this genuinely hard-to-observe species here.

March and April together account for 28 of the 59 records, nearly half the total, tracking a spring passage window; records taper off sharply through summer and fall, with November showing zero, a pattern that likely reflects when this species moves closer to shore along New York’s coast rather than a true absence the rest of the year.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Phocoena phocoena.2
Full species profile Harbour Porpoise Phocoena phocoena Size 1.4–1.9 m4.6–6.2 ft Weight 45–70 kg99.2–154.3 lb Lifespan Up to 20.4 yr View the full profile

More mammals in New York 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"