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Ecology & Environment
Mahesh

16/04/22 18:54 PM IST

Vaquita porpoise

In News 
  • Vaquita porpoise, found in the Gulf of California in Mexico, is nearing extinction and immediate measures are needed to save the remaining population, said the United States Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC).

About Vaquita porpoise
  • The vaquita porpoise is the world’s smallest cetacean and the most endangered marine mammal.
  • It has the smallest range of any whale, dolphin or porpoise, and only lives in a small 1,500 square-mile area in Mexico’s upper Gulf of California, near the town of San Felipe. 
  • It has a rounded head and black patches around its mouth and eyes.
  • It only measures up to five feet in size. It has been listed under the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List as ‘critically endangered’. 
Population
  • The population of the species declined 98 per cent in two decades.
  • Around 570 animals were recorded in 1999 and this fell to 10 animals in 2019.
Reasons
  • The vaquita population has been declining precipitously for decades due to bycatch in gillnets set to catch shrimp and fish, including totoaba — a large, endangered fish that is threatened by illegal fishing for international markets.
Source- DTE

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