- Title: Extinction alert issued for Mexico's threatened vaquita porpoise
- Date: 8th August 2023
- Summary: UPPER GULF OF CALIFORNIA, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO (FILE - JANUARY 24, 2022) (REUTERS) SEA SHEPHERD PERSONNEL NAVIGATION CHARTS ON SCREENS SEA SHEPHERD PERSONNEL ON SEAHORSE’S DECK
- Embargoed: 22nd August 2023 21:22
- Keywords: Mexico endangered species environment preservation sea life vaquita
- Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, MEXICO
- City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, MEXICO
- Country: Mexico
- Topics: Environment,South America / Central America,North America,Nature/Wildlife
- Reuters ID: LVA003319508082023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The International Whaling Commission (IWC) said on Monday (August 7) it had issued an extinction alert for the endangered vaquita porpoise, whose population is estimated to have shrunk to less than a dozen, marking the institution's first-ever extinction warning.
The critically endangered vaquita, the world's smallest porpoise and native to Mexico's Gulf of California, has been imperiled by illegal gill net fishing for an endangered fish called the totoaba, whose bladder is highly valued in Asia.
Mexico's government has been under pressure to crack down on the practice.
The IWC's scientific committee highlighted in a report an 83% drop in the vaquita's population between 2015 and 2018 to only nine or 10 of the marine animals in total.
The alert, the IWC said, stems from its belief that a new mechanism is needed "to voice extinction concerns for an increasing range of cetacean species and populations."
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