Credit: Thomas A. Jefferson.
The Vaquita is one of the rarest aquatic animals we know, about 80% of people out there are unaware of the world's smallest cetacean.
You might think that they are mostly not sighted because of their shy nature, But that isn't the matter. The Vaquita is the world's most endangered marine species with merely 10 left!!
IUCN red-listed the vaquita as Vulnerable in 1978, Endangered in 1990 and Critically Endangered in 1996.
In 2007 the IUCN Director-General urged the President of Mexico “to ensure that all appropriate steps are taken immediately to prevent the vaquita, a national treasure of Mexico, from going extinct”.
DISTRIBUTION
It has a very restricted distribution, occurring only in the upper Gulf of California in Mexico, mainly north of 30º45’N and west of 114º20’W in relatively shallow water
The present range of the vaquita is limited to approximately 4,000 km2, with the highest-use area about 2235 km2, however, the few remaining vaquitas now appear to be concentrated in a small area near San Felipe about 24 x 12 Km in size.
APPEARANCE & BEHAVIOUR
The Vaquitas have black patches around their eyes and lips and small spade-shaped teeth. The back of their body is dark grey while the underside is lighter in colour.
The vaquitas only grow 4-5ft (1.5m) long. Females are longer than males, but males have larger fins. They can live for about 20 years.
Vaquitas mature when they are about 3-6yrs old. Pregnancy lasts for about 10-11 months, by the end of which a single calf is born every year or two usually between February and April.
They usually travel in groups of two, They are shy and avoid boats. They feed on smaller fishes, crustaceans and cephalopods.
Their population has been on the decline since their discovery. they can be detected using acoustics as they produce continuous series of echolocation clicks.
THREATS
The Gulf of California where they are mostly present has shallow water (<50m), and the area is rich in fish and shrimps making fishing a major source of income for the local people. Gill nets are primarily used for fishing. Vaquitas can get accidentally caught and wrapped in these nets and drown. These gill nets are mostly used to trap a fish called Totoaba which is illegal, and since vaquita and Totoaba are similar in size, gillnets that are illegally set for Totoaba are the death traps for the Vaquitas.
The fishermen illegally catch Totoaba for its swim bladder (the organ responsible for buoyancy in fish) which they sell to China at high prices. These bladders are then used as integral ingredients to make a medicinal soup.
Conservation efforts for the vaquita were slow to start because for many years Mexican authorities were unconvinced that any action was needed. When it was finally acknowledged that the vaquita was endangered, authorities focused on upstream dam construction on the Colorado River in the United States and the resultant loss of freshwater input to the northern Gulf as the primary cause of the porpoise’s decline. In reality, the vaquita’s vulnerability is probably determined by both natural processes and human interactions.
All data suggest that
the vaquita is a naturally rare species
its population may never have been large, its range is limited, and there is only one population.
it inhabits a region where fishing is the main economic activity, making this porpoise uniquely vulnerable to incidental mortality.
A critical step towards vaquita conservation was the creation of the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita (CIRVA) by the Mexican Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries. Established in 1996.
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