Mammals
Vaquita
Phocoena sinus · also called vaquita, vaquita porpoise, Gulf of California porpoise
The vaquita is a small, retiring porpoise from one corner of one sea, and it is the clearest example alive of a species being driven extinct as an accidental side effect of a black market. About ten remain.
Overview
The vaquita lives only in the extreme northern Gulf of California, Mexico — the smallest range of any marine mammal, a shallow, cloudy, productive stretch of water where the Colorado River once emptied. It is the smallest cetacean in the world at around 1.4 metres, grey with dark “spectacle” rings around the eyes and dark lip patches. It is shy and undemonstrative, surfaces briefly and without splash, avoids boats, and lives alone or in small groups, which is why it went undescribed until 1958 and has always been hard to study.
Why it is dying
The vaquita’s decline has a single dominant cause: entanglement in gillnets. Its habitat overlaps exactly with that of the totoaba, a large fish whose dried swim bladder is worth thousands of dollars per kilogram in China. An illegal totoaba fishery, run by organised crime, sets gillnets across the vaquita’s core waters, and a vaquita caught in one drowns. Legal gillnet fisheries for shrimp and finfish have added to the toll.
The numbers
- ~600 in 1997
- ~250 in 2008
- ~60 in 2016
- roughly 10 today
Calves are still being seen, so the survivors are reproducing.
Can it recover?
A 2022 genetic study delivered rare good news: the remaining vaquitas carry few harmful mutations and, in models, the species could bounce back — if gillnet deaths stopped completely and now. That has not happened. Mexico has declared a zero-tolerance zone and deployed the navy, and groups patrol and pull nets, but illegal fishing has persisted inside the vaquita refuge. A 2017 captive-breeding attempt was called off when a captured vaquita died of stress.
Status
The vaquita is Critically Endangered and is the most endangered marine mammal on Earth. Its fate now depends almost entirely on whether gillnets can be kept out of a small patch of sea.
Vaquita: common questions
How many vaquitas are left?
The most recent acoustic and visual surveys estimate around 10 individuals, though a small number of calves have been seen in the last few years, showing the remaining animals are still breeding. The population has fallen from roughly 600 in 1997 to about 250 in 2008, 60 in 2016, and single digits to low double digits since. It is now the most endangered marine mammal on Earth, and among the most endangered mammals of any kind.
Why is the vaquita going extinct?
One reason — entanglement in gillnets. Vaquitas share their tiny range with the totoaba, a large fish that is itself endangered and whose dried swim bladder ("maw") sells for thousands of dollars per kilogram in China, where it is used in soup and as an investment. Criminal networks run an illegal totoaba fishery using gillnets, and vaquitas that swim into those nets cannot surface to breathe and drown. Legal fisheries for shrimp and other fish using gillnets have also killed vaquitas. Because the animal exists nowhere else and in such small numbers, this single threat is enough to end the species.
Can the vaquita still be saved?
Genetically, yes — a 2022 study found the remaining vaquitas are surprisingly healthy, with low levels of harmful mutations, and models suggest the species could recover if gillnet deaths stopped essentially completely and immediately. The problem is enforcement. Mexico has declared a zero-tolerance zone and deployed the navy, and conservation groups remove nets, but illegal fishing has continued inside the vaquita's core habitat. A 2017 attempt to catch vaquitas for a captive breeding programme was abandoned after a captured animal died of stress.
What is the difference between a porpoise and a dolphin?
They are related but separate families. Porpoises, including the vaquita, are generally smaller and stockier, with a blunt, rounded head and no prominent beak, spade-shaped rather than cone-shaped teeth, and a small triangular dorsal fin. Dolphins are typically larger and sleeker, usually have a distinct beak and a curved (falcate) dorsal fin, and are often more acrobatic and social. Porpoises tend to be shy and undemonstrative, which is part of why the vaquita was not even described by science until 1958.