The dodo, the Irish elk … the vaquita porpoise ( Phocoena sinus ) could be the next to disappear as did these animals that once populated the Earth.
And it is that since in 1997 some 600 specimens were counted, the latest data indicates that there are only 10 left and, specifically, in the Gulf of California (Mexico) where fishermen and their illegal nets are taking these animals to the extinction. And is that these nets not only catch shrimp and fish. The vaquitas end up entangled in them, drowning hopelessly.
Marine mammal experts say that the recovery of this species is possible, but only if its habitat is free of gillnets . Human activity is solely responsible for the vaquita porpoise on its way to extinction, so we can avoid it. Illegal fishing must be controlled, which is still very recurrent in places like this. And, despite the fact that the government of Mexico banned gillnets in the Gulf of California , there are still too many who violate these rules and go into the sea with nets that hang vertically from the surface to 6 meters deep. and with lengths that extend like several soccer fields. For the vaquitas, it is impossible to escape.
10 copies remain; three of them are calves , according to the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission. It's time to take action or this mammal will disappear forever.
