the.com/porpoise
a dolphin's stockier cousin who skipped the spotlight and never learned to show off.
means A small, stout-bodied marine mammal related to dolphins, distinguished by its rounded snout and spade-shaped teeth.
from From the Old French 'porpais,' literally 'pig-fish,' stitched together from Latin 'porcus' (pig) and 'piscis' (fish) — sailors saw a plump, snub-nosed swimmer and decided it was basically a hog of the sea. The same idea swims through other languages: German once called it 'Meerschwein,' 'sea-pig.' So the porpoise was named not for grace but for its piggy, pudgy profile.
- echolocation
- clicks so high human ears can't hear them
- fast life
- some species rarely live past fifteen years
- teeth
- flat and spade-shaped, not cone-like dolphins
- kentucky cousin
- name spawned 'on porpoise' pun for centuries
- warm-blooded
- eats up to ten percent body weight daily
vaquita — critically endangered porpoise with fewer than 10 individuals left in the gulf of california as of 2023
finless porpoise — threatened species found in china's yangtze river, with populations declining due to river traffic and pollution
harbor porpoise — common porpoise species in northern hemisphere coastal waters, monitored extensively in the north sea and baltic