Cetaceans stranded in the Netherlands in 2008-2014 Guido O. Keijl1, Lineke Begeman2, Sjoukje Hiemstra2, Lonneke L. IJsseldijk2, Pepijn Kamminga1 & Seal Centre Pieterburen3 1 uaNa t r lis Biodiversity Center, P.O. Box 9517, NL-2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands, e-mail:
[email protected] 2 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Pathobiology, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 1, NL-3584 CL Utrecht, the Netherlands 3 Seal Rescue Centre Lenie ‘t Hart (nowadays called: Seal Centre Pieterburen), Hoofdstraat 94a, NL-9968 AG Pieterburen, the Netherlands Abstract: We present a validated list of cetaceans stranded from 2008 up to and including 2014. A total of 4406 cetaceans was found on the Dutch coast during this period, comprising 4346 harbour porpoises (Phocoena phoc- oena) (98.6% of all strandings) and 59 individuals of twelve other species. The next most numerous species was white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) (14 individuals). All individual cases of stranded cetaceans are included, excepting those of harbour porpoise. During the present period, the years with the highest numbers ever of harbour porpoise have been recorded, although numbers in the early twentieth century or before may have been equally high. Largest numbers of harbour porpoise, both absolute and expressed as average per stretching kilome- tre, are found in the Wadden Sea area, with a gradually decreasing density further south. Keywords: Cetacea, harbour porpoise, mortality, North Sea, Phocoena phocoena, sex bias. Introduction often accompanied with photographs. Despite this, the overview becomes obscured by This report on cetacean strandings in the strandings of the numerous harbour porpoise Netherlands is the 39th report in the series (Phocoena phocoena), especially since 2004, reviewing at least one entire year since the first making it harder than before to keep track of report on the same topic by Van Deinse (1933).