vaquita

A controversial, last-ditch plan to round up the last remaining vaquitas—a critically endangered porpoise found only in the Sea of Cortez—may get underway this spring with the aid of U.S. Navy-trained bottlenose dolphins. The vaquitas would be placed in a protected enclosure while efforts are made to get illegal fishing in the area under control. […]

Six fishing boats engaged in illegal activities were spotted by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, ending in their arrest by the Mexican Navy. On Dec. 12, Sea Shepherd’s M/V Farley Mowat located poachers on radar before confirming their identities with binoculars. The six fishing boats were working together, using forbidden nets […]

Last year, I wrote how Mexico’s plan for saving the vaquita, a small porpoise species found only in the northern part of the Gulf of California, was nothing more than a “roadmap for vaquita extinction.” Late last Friday, well after there was any chance for the story to be part of last week’s news cycle, […]

By Captain Oona Layolle It is high season for totoaba poaching. In response to the Asian black markets and their demand for the totoaba swim bladders, illegal fishermen, despite all our efforts in removing nets and working with the navy, are hitting the vaquita population hard. Asian countries need to take measures to curtail the […]

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has vowed to increase night patrols of the Vaquita Refuge in the Gulf of California after two endangered species were found dead this weekend—a presumed result of illegal fishing activity in the area. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has vowed to increase night patrols of the Vaquita Refuge in the Gulf of […]