The smallest and most endangered cetacean in the world, a porpoise found only in the far northern Gulf of California, Mexico, first described by science in 1958. It is not hunted directly; nearly every documented death is as accidental bycatch in gillnets set illegally for the totoaba, a large fish whose swim bladder is trafficked for use in traditional medicine, so the vaquita's crisis is a byproduct of another species' poaching rather than any pressure on the vaquita itself. Mexico has repeatedly banned gillnets within the vaquita's tiny range and the navy patrols a designated zero-tolerance zone, but illegal fishing has continued, and the population has fallen by an estimated order of magnitude or more within a single decade.
Facts
Classification
System (Realm) Relationship to People Relationship to PeopleUsed in Traditional Medicine 4 Living or ExtinctDerived from this species' own Conservation Status: this atlas's IUCN category list has no Extinct value, so a set conservation-status is itself evidence of living status (w-bfill-g5-0924 browse backfill). Disputed
Population EstimateAcoustic and visual survey estimates in the low double digits and falling; because the species is small, shy and now extremely rare, individual surveys disagree on the exact count from one year to the next and some individuals may go undetected, so no published figure is treated as a precise census, only as evidence the population is critically small. This atlas records the lower end of recently published estimates rather than implying false precision. Identification
Distinguishing AppearanceThe smallest living species of cetacean, the vaquita has a small body with an unusually tall triangular dorsal fin, a rounded head and no distinguished beak. Its coloration is mostly grey with a darker back and a white ventral field, with prominent black patches around its lips and eyes. 1 Scientific Name Conservation StatusIUCN Red List, classified Critically Endangered continuously since 1996 (previously Vulnerable in 1978, Endangered in 1990). Fewer than 10 to 13 individuals estimated remaining as of 2024, chiefly from gillnet bycatch in illegal totoaba fishing. Connections
Child Taxon Of
In Biome
In Ecosystem
Source World Wildlife Fund
Open Questions
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Mexico, found in there.
Sources
1. Vaquita (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationConservation section
The vaquita has been listed as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species since 1996.
Lead section, physical description paragraph
The smallest living species of cetacean, the vaquita can be easily distinguished from any other species in its range. It has a small body with an unusually tall triangular dorsal fin, a rounded head, and no distinguished beak. The coloration is mostly grey with a darker back and a white ventral field. Prominent black patches surround its lips and eyes.
View the Source 2. EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014)
3. GBIF Species API
4. Encyclopaedia Britannica
5. Encyclopedia of Life
6. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Wikidata: Vaquita
Wikidata Q725493, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Catalogue of Life
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of LifeChild Taxon Of: PhocoenidaeView the Source World Wildlife Fund
Open Questions (1 open question)
How Many Vaquitas Remain?
The vaquita is now so rare, and lives in waters turbid enough, that acoustic monitoring (detecting echolocation clicks) and visual survey vessels give estimates that disagree year to year, and an unknown number of individuals likely go undetected by either method entirely.
What would resolve this Sustained, well-funded acoustic and visual monitoring across several consecutive seasons, combined with genetic sampling to estimate the population from DNA left in the environment, a technique already piloted for this species.
Marine mammal conservation biology and bioacousticsIUCN Red List of Threatened Species
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