The shy, elusive vaquita is the smallest and most endangered porpoise in the world, with fewer than 20 remaining in their small range in the Gulf of California’s Sea of Cortez. Vaquitas have been hanging on against all odds, despite the consistent threat of entanglement in gillnets used to illegally catch totoaba, a large fish […]
The last known Irrawaddy dolphin in northeastern Cambodia has died, wildlife officials confirmed on Wednesday. The river dolphin, which lived in the Mekong River, was tangled in a fishing net. Also called the Mekong River dolphin, the Irrawaddy dolphin is an endangered species with an estimated 91 animals left, according to the World Wildlife Foundation. […]
The critically endangered vaquita porpoise — a beautiful dolphin about four to five feet long with dark circles around its eyes and an upturned, seemingly smiling mouth — is the smallest marine mammal in the world. They’re also on the brink of extinction with an estimated fewer than ten vaquitas left in their small range […]
It’s no secret that fishing gear often results in the entanglement of untargeted marine species, including those that are endangered, threatened and protected like seabirds, sea turtles, sharks and marine mammals. Gillnets are one of the most widely used types of fishing gear in the world and are often the culprit in this unwanted bycatch. […]
By Elizabeth Claire Alberts The Mexican government will no longer protect the habitat of the critically endangered vaquita in the Upper Gulf of California, but has opened the area up to fishing, according to a news report. It’s estimated that there are only about nine vaquitas left in the world.The vaquita (Phocoena sinus), a bathtub-sized […]
Ocean bound plastic is plastic waste that is headed toward our oceans. The term “ocean bound plastic” was popularized by Jenna Jambeck, Ph.D., a professor from the University of Georgia. In 2015, she and a team of researchers estimated the amount of plastic waste entering the ocean from land.
Fishing operations in the Indian Ocean have decimated dolphin populations over the last 70 years, according to a new study published in the journal Endangered Species Research. The fishing operations that have had dolphins swept up as bycatch have meant that nearly 4 million dolphins have died since 1950 and the population of dolphins in […]
There are only between six and 19 vaquitas left, a new study has concluded, and, unless swift action is taken, the endangered species could go extinct within a year. The world’s smallest porpoises, found only in Mexico’s Gulf of California, are threatened because they are caught by mistake in illegal gillnets. The study, published in […]
Scientists announced Thursday that only 10 vaquita porpoises likely remain in the world and that the animal’s extinction is virtually assured without bold and immediate action. The vaquita, the world’s smallest and most endangered cetacean, is found only in Mexico’s northern Gulf of California. The release of the new vaquita estimate comes just two days […]
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