Featured Image Credit: Earth Island Institute By Alice Morris The vaquita may have just gotten one last chance at survival. The U.S. government plans to spend $600,000 on a breeding program for the critically endangered species. The porpoise has been pushed to the brink of extinction by illegal gillnet fishing in Mexican waters, and today there are…
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#Pied4APorpoise Challenge Is Bringing New Attention To The Decline Of Vaquita
Featured Image Credit: Thomas A. Jefferson Feeling like getting involved in a sweet new challenge? Have we got the one for you! On May 18th, the Texas State Aquarium introduced a new social media based challenge— not unlike the 2014 viral sensation, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. But this time around, it involves what has usually…
Read MoreThe Desperate Plan To Save The Ocean’s 30 Remaining Vaquita
Featured Image Credit: Frédérique Lucas By Eva Gruber With only 30 individual animals left living, the vaquita (Spanish for “little cow”) is on the verge of extinction. Found only in the shallow waters of the northern Gulf of California – known as the Sea of Cortez), it has suffered at the hands of gill net…
Read More30 And Dwindling: How One Agency Plans To Save The Vaquita
Featured Image Credit: Notimex By Kira Krall The Vaquita is a small cetacean that’s in big trouble. NOAA recently discovered that there are only 30 of them left in the wild. The species is a victim of illegal gillnetting in the extreme northern end of the Gulf of California. Vaquitas call the Gulf home and…
Read MoreFight To Save Critically Endangered Vaquita Turns Violent
Featured Image Credit: Flip Nicklin via Minden Pictures By Alice Morris Efforts to save the critically endangered vaquita prompted violent attacks in Mexico earlier this month. The Associated Press described a “gang of dozens of fishermen” attacking inspectors from Mexico’s office for environmental protection in Golfo de Santa Clara, Mexico following recent conflicts between conservationists…
Read MorePut Away Your Nets! The World Wildlife Fund Has A “Last Call” To Save The Vaquita
Featured Image Credit: World Wildlife Fund There isn’t a lot more time for the world’s smallest porpoise. With officially LESS THAN 30 of the tiny cetaceans left in the world, it’s not going to be long before they’re officially extinct. While there have been quite a few “last-ditch efforts” to save them, such as the…
Read MoreVaquitaCPR: Emergency Plan To Save The World’s Most Endangered Marine Mammal
Featured Image Credit: National Geographic The vaquita porpoise is on the verge of extinction. According to a recent acoustic survey, less than 30 of these precious cetaceans remain in the wild. This is a staggering shock. Since this time last year, their numbers have been more than cut in half. The vaquita is officially the most endangered marine mammal…
Read MoreGoing, Going, And Soon To Be Gone: Vaquita Are On The Verge Of Extinction
Featured Image Credit: Cristian Faezi / Omar Vidal By Kira Krall According to an acoustic survey done in the summer of 2016, there are only 30 vaquitas left in the Gulf of California in Mexico. That’s a 49% population decline from the previous year’s estimate, in spite of the emergency gill net ban enacted in…
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