Update on the Vaquita
According to a new study, which CEDO was involved in and took place in 2008, the current number of vaquitas is estimated at 250. This is better than the estimated 150 that was believed to be their population number. While this is promising, we still have a long way to go to ensure the vaquita will be here in the future. Please spread the word! Below are articles about the study in Nature and from TakePart.com.
- Nature: "Endangered-porpoise numbers fall to just 250."
- TakePart.com: "New Study Shows Decline in Endangered Vaquita Population."

New to CEDO's website: A list of businesses started by fishermen, who were paid to give up their fishing permits to help save the vaquita porpoise. The Mexican government is paying fishermen to retire their fishing permits, and the fishermen are using the money to start new businesses, including hotels and cabins (cabañas), eco-tour services, sport fishing and restaurants. It is very important to support these businesses because these people gave up their way of life in order to help make sure the vaquita does not become extinct. Businesses so far have been started in three Northern Gulf of California towns: Puerto Peñasco, Golfo De Santa Clara and San Felipe.

To view the list of businesses click here for the PDF file. Feel free to print it out and spread the word. 

CEDO's Rare Vaquita Video
Watch exclusive footage of a live vaquita calf. Vaquita are the most endangered marine mammmals in the world. On May 13, 1994, a live vaquita calf stranded itself on the beach east of CEDO's field station. The calf came to shore that afternoon about six miles east of the mouth of Estero Morúa, near Puerto Peñasco, and later was placed in the hands of CEDO staff by visiting Arizonans, who were staying at a beach house near the estero. Eventually the vaquita calf made its way to CEDO and was placed in a large tank. Urgent calls to marine mammal experts were made, asking them what to do, and specifically what to feed it. No one had ever held a live vaquita in captivity before. Despite the efforts of all involved, the animal died after about two hours at CEDO. The prognosis was never good, as the calf was very young and the chances of survival for a porpoise that young separated from its mother are very low. This is the vaquita's story.

More Recent, Exciting Vaquita Video Footage 
On October 19, 2008 documentary filmmaker and photgrapher Chris Johnson, from Whale Trackers, captured rare video footage of the endangered Vaquita porpoise alongside scientist Tom Jefferson. From October-November 2008, Chris was documenting "Expedition Vaquita" in the Northern Gulf of California Mexico, a multi-national scientifitic survey led by the Instituto Nacional de Ecologia in Ensenada (INE) and NOAA Fisheries Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California. Check out the amazing video below.

An Encounter with Vaquita from Chris Johnson on Vimeo.
- All video and photographs are © 2008 Chris Johnson - earthOCEAN (All Rights Reserved). www.whaletrackers.com

the Vaquita Porpoise: On the Brink of Extinction or Salvation? 

* For more information on the most recent vaquita population study, click here to visit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) website documenting the study.   

* Visit Whale Trackers for videos, blogs and information on the most recent vaquita population expedition. Whale Trackers produces documentaries from throughout the world’s oceans exploring the lives of whales, dolphins and porpoises. They document the most recent vaquita study. 

The Vaquita Porpoise Crisis
With the recent extinction of the Yangtze River dolphin, also known as the baiji dolphin in China, the vaquita porpoise, now becomes the world’s most endangered marine mammal, with only about 125 animals remaining (as of August 2008), according to scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). That number is down from just over 500 ten years ago and it is estimated that the population could be declining by 25 each year. At this rate, vaquita are declining to a level where extinction may be inevitable regardless of efforts underway or good intentions. The baiji dolphin was the first cetacean species to be documented as being driven to extinction by humans. The vaquita could soon join it.

The Problem
Vaquita porpoises are especially vulnerable with the smallest geographic range of any marine mammal – approximately a 900 square mile area – less than 1/5 the size of metropolitan Los Angeles – in the very northern area of the Gulf of California in Mexico. This highly productive area is excellent for producing fish and shrimp for both domestic and U.S. consumption. The vaquita become accidentally entangled in the gill nets used by the fisherman and they drown.

To save vaquita all the gill nets must come out of their habitat very quickly. Saving vaquita will require substantial financial resources, support for the communities and fishermen that are making the needed changes, and constant and vigilant enforcement. But, the rewards are huge: not only saving the vaquita, but providing a critical example to the world that humans and porpoises can share coastal waters.

The Solution
Scientists agree that the only solution to this dire problem is to totally eliminate fishing with gillnets in the vaquita habitat. This can be accomplished through a combination of buying out some fishermen and converting them to other livelihoods and compensating remaining fishermen to use alternative fishing methods that do not endanger the vaquita.

Without precedence anywhere in the world, Mexico is responding to the urgent need for action. Fishermen are voluntarily giving up their rights to fish in the region in order to save the vaquita, with a compensation program to buy them out. This calls for tremendous sacrifice on their part and presents many challenges as they try to define their new livelihoods. The Mexican government has set aside approximately 70% of the vaquita habitat as a “no fishing” zone.

Concerned non-governmental agencies and foundations seek to encourage and assist the Mexican government and fishermen to immediately take the necessary steps to save this most endangered marine mammal.

To read more about the vaquita, including its history, click below.