Mexico Launches Vaquita Roundup Using U.S. Dolphins

[Judi Lynn]

Posted by News Editor in Latest News, Oceans, RSS, Wildlife on October 13, 2017 5:40 pm /



Vaquita sighted during 2008 survey in Gulf of
California by the U.S. National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
(Photo by Paula Olsen courtesy NOAA)

SAN FELIPE, Mexico, October 13, 2017 (ENS) – An international team of experts has gathered in San Felipe at the request of the Mexican Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, and has begun a unique plan to save from extinction the world’s smallest porpoise, the critically endangered vaquita.

The vaquita is found only in Mexico’s Gulf of California; it was first discovered in 1958. But between 1997 and 2016, hundreds of vaquitas died in gillnets. Their estimated population dropped from about 600 to fewer than 30 animals today.

The operation in the Gulf of California began October 12, using trained U.S. Navy dolphins to locate vaquita, whose numbers have dwindled by 90 percent in the past five years.

The project, which has been recommended by the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita, CIRVA, involves locating, rescuing and then temporarily relocating the vaquitas to an ocean sanctuary off the coast of San Felipe.

More:
http://ens-newswire.com/2017/10/13/mexico-launches-vaquita-roundup-using-u-s-dolphins/