Fun Facts About Sea Animals
The vaquita is a species native to Mexico’s Gulf of California and is the world’s smallest and most endangered marine cetacean, a group that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises.
Also known as the cochito or Gulf porpoise, the vaquita can weigh up to 55 kilograms and grow up to 1.5 meters in length. It closely resembles the common porpoise, with a distinctive black-lipped smile and large dark rings around its eyes.
Gulf porpoises feed on squid, crabs, and fish. Unfortunately, it is estimated that only 150 to 300 vaquitas remain in the wild.
The rapid decline in their population is due to several factors, including drowning caused by entanglement in fishing nets, habitat changes from the damming of the Colorado River in the U.S., and the depletion of their food sources due to commercial fishing.
Fishing nets, in particular, pose a significant threat. Vaquitas need to surface to breathe, but when caught in nets, they are unable to do so and drown. In 2009, the Mexican government passed a resolution banning the use of a particularly harmful type of fishing net within the vaquita’s habitat.