ENDANGERED ANIMALS: VAQUITA



Vaquita, the world’s most rare marine mammal, is on the edge of extinction. This little porpoise wasn't discovered until 1958 and a little over half a century later, we are on the brink of losing them forever. Vaquita are often caught and drowned in gillnets used by illegal fishing operations in marine protected areas within Mexico's Gulf of California. More than half of the population has been lost in the last three years.



Since the baiji (Lipotes vexillifer) is believed to have gone extinct by 2006,the vaquita has taken on the title of the most endangered cetacean in the world. Now there are fewer than 100 individuals of phocoena sinus (vaquita), they height unpone 5 feet and weight up to 120 pounds.

The vaquita has a large dark ring around its eyes and dark patches on its lips that form a thin line from the mouth to the pectoral fins. Its dorsal surface is dark gray, sides pale gray and ventral surface white with long, light gray markings. Newborn vaquita have darker coloration and a wide gray fringe of color that runs from the head to the dorsal flukes, passing through the dorsal and pectoral fins. They are most often found close to shore in the Gulf's shallow waters, although they quickly swim away if a boat approaches.




Vaquitas use high-pitched sounds to communicate with one another and for echolocation to navigate through their habitats. They generally seem to feed and swim at a leisurely pace. They rise to breathe with a slow forward motion and then disappear quickly. Vaquitas are usually alone unless they are accompanied by a calf, meaning that they are less social than other dolphin species. They may also be more competitive during mating season and they are the only species belonging to the porpoise family that live in warm waters.

The vaquita is an evolutionarily distinct animal and has no close relatives. These animals represent more, proportionally, of the tree of life than other species, meaning they are top priority for conservation campaigns. The EDGE of Existence Programme is a conservation effort that attempts to help conserve endangered animals that represent large portions of their evolutionary trees. The U.S. government has listed the vaquita as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The vaquita is also listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Convention on International Trade in the Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in the category at most critical risk of extinction. 



Vaquita have never been hunted directly, but it is known that the vaquita population is declining. The decline is largely due to animals becoming trapped in illegal gillnets intended for capturing the totoaba, a large critically endangered fish of the drum family endemic to the Gulf. A trade in totoaba swim bladders has arisen, driven by demand from China (where they are used in soup, being considered a delicacy and also thought to have medicinal value), which is greatly exacerbating the problem.
On 16 April 2015, Enrique Peña Nieto, President of Mexico, announced a program to conserve and protect the vaquita and the similar-sized totoaba, including a two-year ban on gillnet fishing in the area, patrols by the Mexican navy and financial support to fishermen impacted by the plan. However, some commentators believe the measures fall short of what is needed to ensure the species' survival.


REFLECTION 

The extinction of the vaquita will have a terrible ecological impact on the northern Gulf of California.
But though the major cause of vaquita porpoise mortality is bycatch in gillnets, as numbers continue to dwindle, new problems will arise that will tend to make recovery more difficult. One such problem is reduced breeding rates. With fewer individuals in the habitat, there will be less contact between the different sexes and consequently less reproduction. That's why the specie will soon be extinct unless drastic steps are taken immediately. 
My proposal is to implement alternative technologies for fishing gear that does not harm the species.  For shrimp fishing, new systems have been tested and are ready for roll-out. For finfish fishing, an alternative to current systems has been identified, the challenge now is to successfully deploy these new technologies to fishermen in the Upper Gulf. To become a sustainable solution, this must be done in tandem with the training and instruction needed to make their use economically viable, before the Vaquita disappears entirely.