How the Wild Lens Collective got involved with the new film Sea of Shadows

In the spring of 2017 Wild Lens released the half hour documentary Souls of the Vermilion Sea about the struggle to save the vaquita, the world’s most endangered marine mammal.  We had a very targeted outreach and distribution plan for this film – we wanted to use the documentary as a tool to influence the outcome of the issue through …

Why did Wild Lens make a film about the Vaquita?

Click Here to Watch Souls of the Vermilion Sea on Amazon Prime! Wild Lens was born out of a strong desire to halt species declines and prevent wildlife extinctions. Our first film focused on the endangered California condor, a species that very narrowly escaped extinction in the 1980s.  While working on that film, I interviewed many of the biologists who …

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 …

Scientific Research and Monitoring of the Critically Endangered Vaquita

  Although the situation faced by the vaquita is quite dire, there are lots of organizations and individuals that are committed to doing all they can to prevent the vaquita’s extinction.  In this article, we will summarize the scientific research and monitoring work that has been conducted on the vaquita population. Scientific Research and the Remote Acoustic Monitoring Program Without scientific …