The world's most endangered marine animal, the vaquita porpoise, is on the brink of extinction as only 30 individuals remains in the Gulf of California. The smallest porpoise in the world is in peril as its population is dwindling. The vaquita is native to Mexico's shores.
Scientists estimate that there are only 30 vaquitas left despite government efforts and navy protection to block fishing vessels that use illegal gillnets. These gillnets kills vaquitas when they accidentally get caught in them.
According to CIRVA (International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita), with this current loss rate, the vaquita is likely to be extinct by 2022 unless the current gillnet ban is effectively reinforced and maintained.
Scientists were able to identify the vaquita's current population numbers by analyzing acoustic signals specifically in the upper Gulf of California in northwest of Mexico. During a 2015 survey, there were 60 vaquitas. Before this, there were 100 in 2014 and 200 in 2012.
Some scientists have already suggested that to save the species, they would capture these remaining vaquitas and place them in a safe enclosure in the Gulf of California. This would allow them more opportunities to reproduce. However, many environmentalists strongly oppose this kind of conservation efforts since vaquitas may risk dying in the process of transferring into a new habitat.
The main reason why the vaquitas are disappearing fast is that fishermen use gillnets to capture another endangered marine species, the totoaba fish. This fish's liver is considered a delicacy in China that can amount to thousands of dollars.
This October, scientists will attempt to capture vaquitas to transfer into a safer place in the Gulf of California. According to CIRVA's Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho, illegal fishing will still continue and if we do not capture them, they will die anyway in those gillnets.