Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The vaquita (/ v ə ˈ k iː t ə / və-KEE-tə; Phocoena sinus) is a species of porpoise endemic to the northern end of the Gulf of California in Baja California, Mexico.Reaching a maximum body length of 150 cm (4.9 ft) (females) or 140 cm (4.6 ft) (males), it is the smallest of all living cetaceans.
The International Whaling Commission released its first ever extinction alert to raise awareness surrounding the decreasing vaquita porpoise population.
The number of Mexico’s critically endangered vaquita marina porpoises sighted in the Gulf of California fell to between 6 and 8 this year, researchers said Tuesday. Last year, experts on a ...
A vaquita swimming in the Gulf of California. Porpoises are highly affected by bycatch. Many porpoises, mainly the vaquita, are subject to great mortality due to gillnetting. Although it is the world's most endangered marine cetacean, the vaquita continues to be caught in small-mesh gillnet fisheries throughout much of its range.
Each location provides different environments to sustain that specific life stage. However, their habitat has been altered due to the damming of the Colorado River specifically the upper Gulf which is their spawning and nursery area. The totoaba habitats consists of either brackish or marine waters depending on their life stage.
Toothed whales range in size from the 1.4 m (4 ft 7 in) and 54 kg (119 lb) vaquita to the 20 m (66 ft) and 100 t (98 long tons; 110 short tons) sperm whale. Several species of odontocetes exhibit sexual dimorphism, in that there are size or other morphological differences between females and males. They have streamlined bodies and two limbs ...
The vaquita shares its habitat with the totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi), a highly valued fish in black markets due to the perceived medicinal value of its swim bladder. [24] As of 2024, there are less than 8 individuals left in the Gulf of California, making the species functionally extinct similar to the baiji. [15] [25]
The smallest cetacean, which is also (as of 2006) the most endangered, is the vaquita, a species of porpoise. Male vaquitas grow to an average of around 135 cm (53 in); the females are slightly longer, averaging about 141 cm (56 in) in length. [84]