Fewer than 19 vaquita porpoises left - study

Source: The Guardian

Fewer than 19 vaquita porpoises left – study

Calls for Mexico to crackdown on use of illegal fishing nets after further decline of species

Anna Ploszajski
Wed 31 Jul 2019 00.01 BST

There are fewer than 19 vaquita porpoises thought to be left, according to a study.

In 2016, estimates of the vaquita population stood at just 30, but research published in Royal Society Open Science suggests the figure has fallen further.

“Based on the uncertainty inherent in the models, the number could be as few as six,” said Prof Len Thomas, a statistician at the University of St Andrews and an author on the study.

The vaquita population lives in an area at the upper corner of the Gulf of California in Mexico. To estimate their numbers, the researchers recorded the vaquitas’ echolocation clicks using a large grid of acoustic sensors stationed over their habitat. Combined with visual sightings, the data shows a decline of 98.6% since monitoring started in 2011.

The critically endangered species get caught and drowned as a bycatch in gillnets. ...

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/31/fewer-than-19-vaquita-porpoises-left-study-mexico-illegal-fishing-nets