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Preservation

Here, you can learn more about the efforts being put into effect to save the endangered species of our oceans, as well as what's putting them at risk.

Vaquita Preservation: What exactly is being done?

Overview

Vaquita, nicknamed "the panda of the sea" are marked as THE most endangered species on Earth, are suffering from major endangerment. Having been decently abundant in the 1990's with 560+ recorded Vaquita Porpoises alive, their count has dropped drastically to around a dozen remaining Vaquita roaming the ocean to date.

The Cause

Despite popular belief that it is pollutants like plastic thta are decreasing the population, it's said that bycatching due to illegal nets placed down on the ocean floors are the main culprit to Vaquita deaths worldwide.

According to a book called Vaquita : Science, Politics, and Crime in the Sea of Cortez by Brooke Bessesen, "Vaquitas have been in decline for decades, dying by the hundreds in gillnets intended for commercially valuable fish, as well as for an endangered fish called totoaba. When international crime cartels discovered a lucrative trade in the swim bladders of totoaba, illegal gillnetting went rampant, and now the lives of the few remaining vaquitas hang in the balance."

What is being done to save them?

Fortunately, efforts have been recorded since the early 1950s to save Vaquita porpoises from extinction; as they have been recorded as a vulnerable species for nearly 75 years. However, being that the main culprit for their vulnerability is bycatching, it won't end until measures are taken to stop the illegal placement of totoaba nets.