The smallest whale species in the world lives in the Gulf of California: the vaquita or California harbor porpoise, which is only around 1.50 meters long. However, due to illegal fishing, as a result of which the vaquita repeatedly dies as bycatch in gillnets, there are only ten specimens of this species left today. The International Whaling Commission is therefore sounding the alarm and demanding that all gillnets be banned from the vaquita's habitat with immediate effect.
The California harbor porpoise (Phocoena sinus) is the smallest whale in the world, measuring 140 to 150 centimeters in length and weighing 55 kilograms. It is only found in the northern part of the Mexican Gulf of California. In Spanish he is nicknamed Vaquita, which means something like little cow and refers, among other things, to his characteristic dark circles around his eyes and lips.
The last of their kind
But the cute Vaquita has a problem: It is only a finger snap away from extinction, as the International Whaling Commission (IWC) now officially confirms. According to this, only nine or ten animals are left of the small whales, which massively endangers the survival of the species. The commission reports that stocks have plummeted 98 percent since 1997. At that time, around 570 animals were still swimming through the Gulf of California, in 2015 their number had already fallen to 59 and since 2018 researchers have been counting the said nine to ten remaining individuals.
The reason for the decline in vaquitas is also known: They get caught in so-called gill nets as by-catch. These nets are deployed by illegal fishermen who catch the totoaba, a strictly protected fish the size of the vaquita, off Mexico. Its swim bladder is coveted in Asia as a delicacy and ingredient in traditional medicine, fetching tens of thousands of dollars on the black market. Since the meshes of the gillnets standing vertically in the water are perfectly matched to the size of the totoaba, even vaquitas of the same size get stuck in it again and again. They get tangled and suffocate. “A double species protection tragedy”, as the marine conservation organization OceanCare puts it.
Immediate protective measures required
The problem has been known for several decades. As early as 1990, the IWC Scientific Committee first expressed concern about vaquita bycatch in gillnets. However, the measure he recommended at the time – ending totoaba fishing – is difficult to implement due to the criminal nature of this fishery. Alternatively, the vaquitas would also be helped if at least the gillnets were replaced by other, safer fishing methods for the small whale, but in this respect too little has happened over the years.
After repeated warnings with no consequences, the Whaling Commission is now attempting the first "extinction alert" in its history, hoping to draw international attention to the problem. “The extinction of the vaquita is inevitable unless 100 percent of gillnets are immediately replaced with alternative fishing gear. If this doesn't happen now, it will be too late," the IWC statement said. However, if the recommended measures are implemented with immediate effect, there could at least be a small chance for the vaquita to continue.
Source: International Whaling Commission (IWC), OceanCare