The Phocoena Sinus or the vaquita (which is the Spanish Word for “little

cow”) is a small porpoise found in the Northern Gulf of California (sea of Cortez)
in Mexico. The estimated size of the original vaquita population in 1997 was
around six hundred. Sadly its population has been in sharp decline for decades,
resulting in the 90% of the number declination (between 2011 and 2016) alone.
Nowadays, fewer than twenty of these animals are estimated to remain mainly
because of the use of gillnets in the vaquita’s habitat, the reduced flow of the
river and the contamination due to pollution. The combination of these factors
made the vaquita the most endangered marine mammal in the world. However,
it is important that we protect these gentle creatures not only because of their
unique characteristics and features but also because of the consequences the
ecosystem would face if the vaquita disappears.
It is imperative that we protect the vaquita because of its uniqueness.
This timid, highly elusive mammal is uniquely patterned with various shades of
black, white and grey. They are distinguishable from porpoises as it is the only
species of that family found in warm waters and the size of their triangular
dorsal fin is believed to be an adaptation to that, allowing for extra body heat to
dissipate.
Another important reason to protect the vaquita is its importance for the
entire ecosystem. The vaquita’s disappearance would represent important
consequences for the environment since this creature is an essential part of the
natural food chain within its hábitat, existing as both a predator and as a prey.
These animals serve as a vital mechanism of population control for several
species off ish, crustaceans, and cephalopods. In the natural food chain, they
act also as a prey for larger marine species such as sharks and killer whales.
The vaquita’s uniqueness and its importance for the ecosystem are just a
pair of reasons we can mention to protect this creature. If the species
disappears it will be imposible to recover it, and thus we will miss the animal
together with all the features that make it so special and unique in the
porpoises’ family. Apart from that, the vaquita’s rapidly dwindling population
threatens the ecological balance of this independant food chain. From scientists
and non-governmental agencies to the government of Mexico are working
together to protect the vaquita and took actions, especially to eliminate gillnets
from the región. It may be hard but not imposible yet to save the vaquita from
extinction.