Vaquita
2022 CE • Gulf of California
"The vaquita, the world’s tiniest marine mammal, has long teetered on the brink of extinction. The population of porpoises marked with black ringed eyes and smiling, upturned mouths has dwindled by a devastating 99% over the last decade. Now scientists say their future is more precarious than ever, after a recent survey found fewer than 10 individuals left in the waters of their limited home range between Baja California and Mexico." Their decline is attributed to drowning as a result of entanglement in gillnets used to illegally catch totoaba fish.
Gabrielle Canon, "There are fewer than 10 tiny vaquita porpoises left. Can they be saved?" The Guardian, February 12, 2022.
Image: Paula Olson, NOAA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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