Porpoises at Fjord&Bælt

Freja, Eigil, Sif and small Frigg Amanda

At the moment, there are 4 porpoises in the 4 million litre large basin at Fjord&Bælt. These small whales are unconditionally protected in Denmark, but Fjord&Bælt has special permission from the Ministry of the Environment, The National Forest and Nature Agency to keep up to four porpoises in captivity.

The purpose of keeping porpoises at Fjord&Bælt is to allow for research and presentation of the animals as part of the effort to preserve and protect the only whale that breeds in Danish waters. One of our special concerns is to find a way to reduce the number of porpoises that get caught and drown in fishing nets. A large number of Danish and international institutions and universities work together on this research project.

Frigg-Amanda

Frigg Amanda was born at Fjord & Belt on the 8th August 2007 as the first living calf porpoises around the world who were born in captivity. The proud parents are Freja and Eigil. Since Freja has previously been a stillborn calf, it was with excitement we were anticipating the birth. Thank God everything went well and Freja proved to be a competent porpoise mother.

Freja

The porpoise Freja came to Fjord&Bælt in 1997. She had been caught in a pound net along with Eigil. We estimate that she was born in 1996 or 1995, and that she was therefore one or two years old when she arrived at Fjord&Bælt. Since then she has been trained to participate in various research projects.

Eigil

The porpoise Eigil also came to Fjord&Bælt in April 1997. He had
been caught in the same pound net as Freja. When he arrived, he was somewhat smaller than Freja, and we are fairly certain that he was born in 1996. Eigil has been through the same training programme as Freja and has also participated in research projects.

Sif

The porpoise Sif arrived at Fjord&Bælt in July 2004.

She had been caught by accident in a pond net by Fjellerup Strand. We think she was about 1 year old as she arrived to Fjord&Bælt.