Growth and Reproductive Activity of a Captive Female Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) from Japanese Water

This report describes growth and annual reproductive cycle of female harbour porpoise(Phocoena phocoena) rescued from Japanese water in 2007. The maximum body length was 179 cm and body weightwas 69.8 kg. The average daily food consumption was 7.0 kg (ranging 3.7 - 9.9 kg), 11.8% of the body weight. In this report, the porpoisewas kept in 17 °C water annually and the blubberthicknesses showed almost constant throughout the year (average 18 mm, range 13 - 22 mm). Therefore, we added new evidence to this hypothesis by showing that body weightand the blubberthickness do not fluctuate seasonally in fixed water temperature. Serum progesterone level of the female showed five peaks from September to November, and each cycle lasted the average of 20.5 days. Such result indicates that harbour porpoiseexhibits seasonal polyestrous activity.