International study reveals differences in the health of porpoises in the North Sea

Porpoises that strand in the Netherlands have, on average, a lower BMI than their counterparts in Scotland and elsewhere, according to an international study led by Utrecht University in collaboration with the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS), based at the University of Glasgow. As part of the study, researchers analyzed the body mass index (BMI) of 1,700 porpoises that were stranded or found as bycatch in the North Sea between 1990 and 2023. This is the first time data from multiple countries have been compiled on this scale.