NEWS

According to the United States Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) Vaquita porpoise is nearing extinction and immediate measures are needed to save the remaining population

DETAILS

• World’s smallest cetacean
• Most endangered marine mammal (IUCN – critically endangered)
• Has the smallest range of any whale, dolphin or porpoise
• Only lives in a small 1,500 square-mile area in Mexico’s upper Gulf of California, near the town of San Felipe
• Has a rounded head and black patches around its mouth and eyes, measures up to five feet in size

THREATS

• The vaquita population has been in sharp decline for decades, recently accelerated by illegal fishing with gill-nets for the vulnerable totoaba, a large fish sought after for its swim bladder.
• The small animal frequently gets caught in fixed fishing nets (gill-nets), as by-catch.