Vaquitas

STATUS: Critically Endangered

ABOUT

The shallow waters of Mexico’s Gulf of California are home to the Vaquita, the most endangered of all the whales, dolphins or porpoises. Life is perilous for these little porpoises as they live close to the shore, in areas notorious for high amounts of illegal and unsustainable fishing. 

Vaquitas have a small, chunky, grey body with paler sides and a white belly. They also have a relatively large dorsal fin which may help them dissipate heat as they live in much warmer waters than other porpoises. You’ll know you’re looking at a vaquita if you see a porpoise with a circular black patch around its eye and with black ‘smiling’ lips. Vaquitas enjoy the usual porpoise diet of fish and squid and maybe the odd crab or lobster. When they are hunting, they dive smoothly and surface again slowly.

Sadly, there is a lot of illegal fishing in marine protected areas and these fishermen use gillnets. The vaquitas become entangled in the gillnets and suffocate. There were about 600 vaquitas alive in 1997. In just over 20 years, there are fewer than 30 left. By next year they are likely to be extinct unless we take some rapid action. 

We aim to spread awareness of the tragic decline of vaquitas in Mexico and to help make sure no other whale, dolphin or porpoise species suffers the same fate by donating part of our proceeds to a charity dedicated to the conservation and protection of whales, dolphins and porpoises.