Vaquita

The vaquita — known in Spanish as vaquita marina or cochito — is a critically endangered odontocete cetacean of the family Phocoenidae, one of the seven porpoise species. It measures 150 cm long and weighs up to 50 kg. It has a very restricted distribution. It is also regarded as a species endemic to Mexico, in Baja California. Its populations have declined over recent decades to the point of being considered in grave danger of extinction. In 2015 the total population was ninety-six animals. In 2017 it lost 67% of its population, leaving fewer than forty individuals. In late 2018 and early 2019, between ten and fifteen were estimated to remain. According to WWF it is going extinct. Conservation measures have been put in place, but the species is considered to be in imminent danger of extinction. On 18 October 2017 a six-month-old vaquita was rescued; however, it was returned to the sea on the advice of expert vets, who judged that the calf could not be separated from its mother. On 10 November of that same year, scientists from the VaquitaCPR programme released the results of fieldwork. They reported sightings of individuals on eight of thirteen days at sea. They recorded thirty-two sightings, including probable repeat individuals within a single day. It is important to be clear that these sightings do not represent an estimate of the vaquita population. The sighting events involved one to three vaquitas at a time, with an average of two vaquitas per group. In March 2018 the situation became critical and, according to Andrea Crosta of the animal protection organisation Elephant Action League, only twelve individuals could be detected swimming in the Gulf of California, alongside the Baja California peninsula. The most recent count, in October 2025, estimates that fewer than 10 remain in the wild.