Richard 2021

VAQUITA

This Article is about the critically endangered Vaquita (Phocoenasinus) which is the world's rarest marine mammal with the life expectancy of 20 years hitting their sexual maturity at the ages of 3 to 6 years old.

Female Vaquitas reach a maximum size of about 150 cm and males reach about 140 cm. The Vaquitas are considered to be a healthy species of mammal with little to no health problems associated with them.

IS THE VAQUITA AN ENDANGERED SPECIES? YES. The reason being illegal fishing in the Gulf of Mexico where Vaquitas get caught up in gillnets and drown. Vaquitas are referred to as the cocaine of the sea due to their bladders being sold after being dried out for 10 years for $85,000 in China for Chinese medicine making them heavily sought after for illegal fisherman. It is feared that there may be as little as 10 Vaquitas alive today.

The Vaquita live in the Northern Gulf of Mexico in the Sea of Cortex. They are a shy animal and tend to stay away from boats and other things that cause noise making it hard to do a full observation of their behaviors however we do know that Vaquitas are mostly solitary apart from mating season and that they tend not to do any acrobatics like a Dolphin would do.

Vaquitas live in murky waters at a depth of 30 to 90 feet only 25 km from the shoreline. There is strong tidal mixing at that depth which creates a lot of food for them. They prefer warmer waters but can survive in fluctuating water temperatures.

I have chosen to write on the Vaquita because I'm worried that soon there will be no more and being a recently discovered animal (1958) there isn't enough knowledge to the general public about these beautiful creatures and the dangers that they are truly in.