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Thread: Harbor Porpoise in SC

  1. #1
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    Default Harbor Porpoise in SC

    On Friday (January 18th), I must have set my decoys in the middle of a shad or herring run because bottlenose dolphins were all around me. It actually gave me something to look at during this nearly duckless season we're having. Then I noticed a single animal that eventually fed into my decoys. This guy didn't have the usual hook on its back so I took a couple of pictures hoping to look it up when I got back home. As much as I try to be aware of the nature around me, I never paid much attention to the marine mammals we get in SC so I did some internet surfing when I got hom.

    Best I can tell it's a Harbor Porpoise and pretty south of its usual range. I did look up marine mammals on the SCDNR page and they list a handful of porpoise species but they all have much larger dorsal fins.


    The best picture I got...he never showed his face above water like bottlenose will often times do and seemed to be very solo. Anyway, I thought it was interesting and will try to find the right person at DNR to ask about this.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Ephesians 2 : 8-9



    Charles Barkley: Nobody doesn't like meat.

  2. #2
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    Cool pic RH

  3. #3
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    From looking at this map, it doesn't seem like it would be far fetched to see one here.

    Capture.JPG

    https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/harbor-porpoise

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by jws View Post
    From looking at this map, it doesn't seem like it would be far fetched to see one here.

    Capture.JPG

    https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/harbor-porpoise
    I agree and don't know what else it would be. It does seem odd that on a year when ducks from the north don't make it down that a porpoise from the north would...

    Here's the range map I was looking at...

    Ephesians 2 : 8-9



    Charles Barkley: Nobody doesn't like meat.

  5. #5
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    duckcrazed should be able to tell you if he sees this.
    Amendment II A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

    Quote Originally Posted by Highstrung View Post
    I like fishing topwater. Will one of you jot down some of this redneck ghetto slang and the definitions for those of us who weren't born with a plastic spoon in our mouths?

  6. #6
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    Well dang, I think I saw one earlier in January too. Thought it was just a dolphin that had a bad encounter with a prop or something.

  7. #7
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    I think I used to see them a fair amount around fripp when I was young.

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    According to that map I have spent a considerable amount of time amongst harbor porpii....

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tater View Post
    harbor porpii....
    Thats a fun word to say.
    Miner's Daughter's Coal Train 'Rosco'

    "The only human quality he lacks is speech" -Alfred Brehm




  10. #10
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    Indeed

  11. #11
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    Free Willy!!!!! Jk sounds like a fun hunt even without a duck.
    “Duck hunting gives a man a chance to see the loneliest places …blinds washed by a rolling surf, blue and gold autumn marshes, …a rice field in the rain, flooded pin-oak forests or any remote river delta. In duck hunting the scene is as important as the shooting.” ~ Erwin Bauer, The Duck Hunter’s Bible, 1965

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    In Florida hunting the shallows dolphin would swim right through the decoys knowing you were there... I don't ever remember having them quite so bold in SC. Looking at a few articles is says that type is extremely skiddish.
    "The best things in life make you sweaty"
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dawhoo View Post
    In Florida hunting the shallows dolphin would swim right through the decoys knowing you were there... I don't ever remember having them quite so bold in SC. Looking at a few articles is says that type is extremely skiddish.
    They’ll do it here.
    Be proactive about improving public waterfowl habitat in South Carolina. It's not going to happen by itself, and our help is needed. We have the potential to winter thousands of waterfowl on public grounds if we fight for it.

  14. #14
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    The NOAA marine mammal expert said it's a known bottlenose with a cut-off dorsal...they've named him "Flop"...
    Ephesians 2 : 8-9



    Charles Barkley: Nobody doesn't like meat.

  15. #15
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    I have seen a couple over the last few years that looked similar but just took it to be another bottlenose with a wonky injured or deformed dorsal....
    \"I never saw a wild thing feel sorry for itself. A small bird will drop dead frozen from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.\" <br />D.H. LAWRENCE

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    Loch Ness Monster. Duh.

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