Scientists have announced that only 10 vaquita porpoises are estimated to survive in the world – virtually assuring the animal’s extinction without bold and immediate action.
As we mark Save Vaquita Day, it’s a terrible truth that with each passing day the clock counts down ever-closer to the extinction of the world’s most threatened marine mammal – estimates vary but the credible consensus is that fewer than 30 of these tiny porpoises may remain in the Upper Gulf of California, Mexico
International efforts to save the vaquita, the world’s most endangered marine mammal, took a step in the wrong direction last week when the Mexican Government announced it is considering legalising the trade in totoaba fish
With fewer than 30 remaining, the plight of the vaquita porpoise in the Gulf of California is deemed so desperate that an operation has begun to capture the surviving creatures and put them in secure pens – but the Vaquita Conservation, Protection and Recovery effort is a drastic move with a limited chance of success
Today, on UN World Oceans Day, there is a ray of hope for the fast-disappearing vaquita, the world’s smallest and most endangered cetacean that is found only in the upper Gulf of California
At the CITES CoP17 meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, countries pledged to do more to curb poaching and illicit trade in totoaba fish which threatens the survival of the critically endangered vaquita porpoise. This is a positive sign but international cooperation is vital to ensure enforcement actions take place.