2008-10-28

New Images Of World's Most Endangered Dolphin

Researchers in Mexico have seen and photographed the most endangered species of dolphin in the world.

The vaquita, a porpoise that lives solely in the shallow waters of the upper portion of Mexico’s Gulf of California, is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List, with an estimated 150 individual animals thought to remain.

Conservationists have predicted this species will become extinct within the next few years if immediate action is not taken to prevent animals being accidentally caught and killed in fishing nets, and specifically gill-nets.

However, due to a lack of images of these animals, it has been difficult to raise awareness of the vaquita’s plight. In fact, some locals even consider the animal to be a “mythical creature”.

But now conservationist Tom Jefferson, funded by WDCS and other groups including WWF and NRDC, has travelled to the vaquita’s habitat and taken the photographs needed to prove the creature’s existence and begin a publicity campaign to raise awareness of the endangered status of the animals, and therefore make the changes necessary to protect the species before it is too late to save them.

WDCS’s Nicola Hodgins said: “We have already lost the baiji, and the vaquita is the next species likely to become confined to the history books unless we act now. However, we need to show the world that these animals exist and that they need protection. Until now we have only had grainy images which don’t show how unique these animals are. Now that we have these new images, we can see just how different the vaquita is from the five other porpoise species.”

The vaquita’s greatest threat is incidental capture in fishing nets, and the only way to effectively protect this species from extinction is to eliminate gillnets, while at the same time providing economic incentives and aid to the local fishermen to enable them to find alternative sources of income. The plight of these animals is not well known outside of Mexico though, and the new images will help to increase awareness and bring in the expertise and money needed to make changes.

Nicola Hodgins added: “The photographs show us that these animals are beautiful and unique. They’re also critically endangered, and unless we act now to protect them, the photographs will be all we have left of these amazing animals, and to future generations they really will become mythical creatures.”

The images, which were captured by Chris Johnson, can be seen online at www.whaletrackers.com