10 animals on the edge of extinction you didn't know about no. 8

10 animals on the edge of extinction you didn't know about no. 8 - Vaquita

Hello,

Today, we're talking about the rarest marine mammal. The vaquita is a member of the porpoise family that lives only in the northernmost part of the Gulf of California which is the smallest range of any marine mammal.

Vaquita are easily distinguishable, with small bodies tall triangular dorsal fins and dark patches around each eye and on their lips. They are dark grey with paler, sometimes even white undersides. The females generally have larger heads, wider flippers and are longer than the males.

Vaquita prefer to stay with 25 km of the shoreline and in waters of less than 150m depth, as these contain more prey. They eat a wide variety of different fish species especially floor dwelling ones. They are shy and very secretive, spending their time alone, in pairs or in groups of up to seven individuals. Vaquita do not migrate. They live in warmer waters and can deal with large fluctuations in water temperature which is uncommon among porpoises.

The mating season is in April and May. They are polygynous, meaning that the males mate with multiple females. The gestation period is 10-11 months after which a single calf is born in March. The calf will stay with its mother until its 6-8 months old. Sexual maturity is reached at 3-6 year of age.

Unfortunately, there isn't much hope for the vaquita. They share their habitat with fish that are highly profitable especially on the black market. This leads to them being the bycatch of illegal fishing, often with gillnets. They are critically endangered with some sources saying there are less than 10 individuals left. Most agree that it's below 30. The first official sighting was in 1958 where their population was considered to be 600 individuals meaning that they've lost up to 98% of their population in the last 65 years. They avoid humans and boats which makes them hard to find and therefore study. However there have been sightings of mothers with healthy calves, meaning that they are still reproducing.

Your Green World Blog Team💚

Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/11/tiny-vaquita-numbers-less-than-10-can-they-be-saved
https://porpoise.org/knowledge-base/how-many-vaquitas-are-left-in-the-world/
https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/vaquita
https://animals.net/vaquita/
https://animalia.bio/vaquita

Images:
Title image: This image is owned by a blog editor.
Vaquita pair, 2008, owned by NOAA Fisheries West Coast (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

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