So before I start, how many people actually know what the vaquita is. Okay, not many. So, basically the vaquita is a rare, dolphin-like species of porpoise that has been critically endangered since 1975. It is a carnivorous heterotroph, so it only eats meat, and cannot make its own food. They primarily live in the Gulf of California and is the world’s most endangered marine animal. It mostly feeds on, fish, squid, and various crustaceans. There are as few as 50 left in the wild, so I really need your help to save them.
The main reason that it became endangered was due to gillnetting. Fishermen illegally try to catch the rare totoaba fish with their gill nets, but end up entangling and ultimately drowning the vaquita. Also, climate change can greatly affect their habitats and food supply, causing the population to dramatically decrease. So you’re probably wondering why the vaquita is such an important species for us to save. Well, the vaquita is a symbol of Mexico’s natural diversity, and a larger population of vaquita would help stabilize the ecosystem and bring a once divergent environment back to its natural, healthy state. Secondly, A healthy population of vaquitas would be great incentive for ecotourism, and would benefit Mexico’s economy.The disappearance of the vaquita would cause their ecosystem to become extremely unbalanced.
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Firstly, we could get the Mexican government to strongly enforce a ban on gillnet fishing. This would dramatically and quickly increase the vaquita population, since 1 out of every 5 vaquita will drown in a gillnet. Our second option, is to adopt more sustainable fishing techniques, which would also improve the economics of the fishing industry itself. Educating people about the importance of the vaquita would also greatly help the vaquita population to regulate. Many endangered animals such as the sea lion, or the blue