With just 10 remaining in the wild, the tiny vaquita needs a miracle to save it from extinction. Discover all you need to know about them in this expert guide from Whale and Dolphin Conservation
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What do vaquita porpoises look like?
Vaquitas have a small, chunky body, rounded head and relatively large dorsal fin – scientists think that this may be to help dissipate heat as they live in much warmer waters than other porpoises.
Vaquitas have a grey body with pale sides and a white belly. They also have a round black patch around their eye and black lips that some people think makes them appear to be smiling. Sadly, they don’t have a lot to smile about.
Where do vaquitas live?
Vaquitas are endemic (only found) in one small, 2,235km2 area in the north of the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez), off Mexico. This is the most restricted range of any whale, dolphin or porpoise. They live in shallow, turbid waters.
How big are vaquitas?
Vaquitas are around 1.5 metres long and weigh up to 68kg
What does Vaquita mean?
Vaquita is Spanish for ‘little cow’.
What do vaquitas eat?
Like a lot of other porpoises, the vaquita’s diet consists of small fish, squid and crustaceans.
How do they track their prey?
Vaquitas use echolocation. This is a technique used by many animals, including toothed whales, dolphins and porpoises, which involves making high-pitched clicks that bounce off objects around them. The echo that comes back gives the vaquita information about its surroundings and enables it to locate prey.
How many teeth does the vaquita have?
Vaquitas have 26-32 teeth. Once lost they are not replaced.
Do they form pods?
They are generally seen alone or in pairs but have been observed in small groups. However, the population now numbers only around 10 individuals.
How long do Vaquita live for?
A vaquita's lifespan is estimated to be around 20 years.
What sounds does the vaquita make?
Vaquitas produce intense, narrow-band, high-frequency echolocation clicks, like other porpoises (ranging from 122-150kHz). They rely on echolocation to navigate, communicate and detect prey. Also, like their harbour porpoise cousins, they make a puffing noise as they surface to breathe, which sounds a bit like pig snorts – the reason porpoises used to be commonly known as ‘puffing pigs’.
Do they have natural predators?
Large species of sharks and possibly orcas.
Vaquitas have distinctive colouring (with a dark back and pale underside) providing them with natural camouflage. They are shy and elusive, which may also help them evade predators
What are the main threats to the vaquita?
Vaquitas are critically endangered. Bycatch (accidentally entanglement) in fishing nets has almost wiped vaquitas out. Although the Mexican government has now banned the static nets that kill them, illegal gillnet fishing for totoaba is still rife in the vaquitas’ home, and discarded nets also pose a significant risk to these little porpoises.
Why are they on the brink of extinction?
The vaquita, the world's rarest marine mammal, is on the edge of extinction. In 1997, there were estimated to be around 600 vaquitas. Ninety per cent of the population was lost between 2011 and 2016 alone. The plight of cetaceans –whales, dolphins and porpoises – as a whole is exemplified by the rapid decline of the vaquita in Mexico, now with only around 10 individuals remaining as a result of unsustainable and illegal fishing.
In his column Mark Carwardine asks why more wasn't done to save the vaquita.
What is the scientific name?
Phocoena sinus
What is the classification?
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: Phocoenidae
Genus: Phocoena
Species: P. sinus
Main image @ Paula Olson, NOAA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
