What has Wild Lens done since the Release of Souls of the Vermilion Sea to help the vaquita and the local community?

In the spring of 2017 fellow Wild Lens filmmaker Sean Bogle and myself were driving from my home in Boise, Idaho towards the Mexican border.  We had just completed work on our 30-minute documentary film about the vaquita – the world’s most endangered marine mammal – and we were heading towards the epicenter of the vaquita issue – San Felipe, …

The Vaquita Capture Effort

The vaquita capture effort was the most high profile attempt to prevent the vaquita’s extinction.  Over 60 marine mammal experts were involved in the approximately two month long program designed to bring the vaquita into a captive environment.  The stated goal of this program was the capture as many vaquita as possible – up to 15 animals, which was the …

The Economic Issue at the Heart of the Vaquita Crisis

At its heart, the vaquita issue is an economic issue.  Most fisherman continue to use gillnets because they feel like they have no other means to earn a living.  The importance of providing alternative livelihoods has been recognized for a long time – in 2008 the Mexican government offered buyouts to local fisherman, and also began testing alternative vaquita-friendly fishing …

The Ghost Net Removal Program

  The remote acoustic monitoring program discussed in our previous post is not the only way that local fisherman are getting involved in vaquita conservation.  The ghost net removal program also relies on participation from within the community, and this program is also having a significant impact on the vaquita issue.  The program is designed to remove gillnets from the …