Have you ever heard of a creature called the vaquita? If not, stay tuned to hear all about this adorable sea dweller. Vaquitas are a type of porpoise that lives in the northern area of the Gulf of California (Mexico). Their diet consists mainly of fish, squid, and crustaceans, and according to the World Wildlife Fund (n.d.), “This little porpoise wasn’t discovered until 1958,” (Vaquita, para. 1). The sad truth however, is that these critically endangered species with only around 10 individuals left.
Even though the vaquitas have had a short population size to begin with, a plethora of human factors, namely gillnets, are known causes for their demise. Gillnets are fishing nets that are supposed to trap fish via their gills, but gillnets are also very deadly for vaquitas. In the year 2000 alone, it was estimated that 15% of the vaquita population was killed solely by gillnets in their region of living. As stated by porpoise.org (n.d.), one reason vaquitas are often caught as bycatch from these nets is because of the illegal fishing of the totoaba, a fish whose swim bladders are of interest in China due to the belief that it can cure diseases and illnesses (Why is the vaquita endangered? para. 4-5).
Another human factor that may lead to the deaths of vaquitas is pollutants in their food supply, as well as other forms of contamination. To elaborate, both human-made and natural pollutants (i.e. wastewater treatment and sewage) that are carried by things like rainfall, snowmelt, and/or irrigation systems through the ground have the potential to pollute the Colorado River, therefore entering the food chain and thus affecting the vaquitas by the food they eat. To add on, cruise ships may also be a factor in polluting the environment via exhaust fumes and possible trash that could be disposed of incorrectly by the people onboard. The exhaust fumes have a chance of depleting the clarity of the water, as well as adding to global warming as well. Even if the exhaust fumes from cruise ships might not affect the vaquitas at the high levels gillnets do, it may still be a factor that may harm them in the long run. Bear in mind that more research is needed to be sure of these possible factors that could be causing the vaquita’s extinction.
As with any food chain, there’s always a balance. So, if the vaquitas were to go extinct, the medium and small-sized crustaceans, fish, and squid would likely go out of balance and increase, leading to less of the smaller organisms like plankton and phytoplankton that are on the very bottom of the food chain. In addition to this, no vaquitas could also mean less of a food source for their marine predators like sharks and killer whales, thereby leading to a possible reduction in the populations of said predators.
It goes without saying that one of the main ways for any population to recover from near extinction is breeding. Here you may or may not be thinking, “But aren’t the vaquita’s genetics eventually going to harm them with all the inbreeding that has likely occurred over time?” Well, I’m here to tell you that although inbreeding can usually lead to offspring receiving copies of two harmful mutations, the vaquita population has always been small enough for the frequency of these harmful mutations to be very low, to begin with. It’s estimated that even with an 80% decrease in fishing in the area, vaquitas still have about a 60% chance of going extinct. So, if anything, vaquitas are more likely to go extinct due to human factors rather than generic ones.
With all that being said, what are some ways we can help raise the vaquita population back to steady levels? First and foremost, we need more research. We need better monitoring of the factors causing the decline of the vaquitas, better monitoring of exactly how many vaquitas are being killed by gillnets, contamination, and the other factors mentioned previously, better monitoring of what kinds of pollutants are getting into their food source(s), and better monitoring of how their reproduction works in case something is stopping things from running smoothly in that area. There are always more areas that need to be researched and monitored, but for now, we can leave the list at that.
Some other ways we can try and help the vaquitas is to raise awareness. If people don’t even know about the critically endangered vaquitas, how will they know that they’re in need of saving? The next two steps go hand in hand: cleaning up pollution and stopping climate change. Cleaning waste, pollution, and other toxins to the environment and ocean, as well as relying more on renewable natural resources, rather than nonrenewable resources is a big step forward for saving any population/species of organisms. Participating in beach cleanups, campus cleanups, and any other event relating to the ones mentioned are great ways to prevent further damage to various ecosystems.
In closing, I hope you learned more about vaquitas, why they’re endangered, and some ways you can help. If you haven’t already, I highly encourage you to do more of your own research on vaquitas, and spread the word!