Recently, the United States Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has warned that Vaquita porpoise is nearing extinction and immediate measures are needed to save the remaining population.
About vaquita porpoise
- The vaquita porpoise is the world’s smallest cetacean and the most endangered marine mammal.
- It has the smallest range of any whale, dolphin or porpoise, and only lives in a small 1,500 square-mile area in Mexico’s upper Gulf of California, near the town of San Felipe.
- There are estimated to be fewer than 20 individuals left in a small area in the Gulf of California, the only place in the world where the vaquita is found.
- The vaquita grows up to a length of around 1.5 meters (five feet) and a weight of 50 kilos (110 pounds).
- It has been listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature since 1996.
- In 2019 UNESCO added the Gulf of California’s islands and protected areas to the World Heritage in Danger list due to fears of the imminent extinction of the species.
- The vaquita population has been declining precipitously for decades due to bycatch in gillnets set to catch shrimp and fish, including totoaba — a large, endangered fish that is threatened by illegal fishing for international markets.
About Gulf of California
- The Gulf of California covers an area of 160,000 sq. km and has a long coastline of approximately 4,000km.
- The Gulf is surrounded by the Mexican states of Sonora, Sinaloa, Baja California, and Baja California Sur.
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