Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “Vaquita”
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 …
Two organizations, Elephant Action League (EAL) and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), have conducted comprehensive undercover investigations into the illegal trade in totoaba swim bladders. These investigations provide crucial information to law enforcement agencies, theoretically allowing these agencies to take action to shut down these illegal supply chains. Remember – it is this illegal supply chain for totoaba swim …
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 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 …
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 …
Listen to this episode in iTunes The vaquita’s home is a truly unique area of marine habitat in the Northern Gulf of California. The area is unique for a number of reasons. Situated at the delta of the Colorado River, for the last five million years this massive river system has been dumping sediment into the Northern Gulf, creating …
Listen to this episode in iTunes If you’re wondering what a vaquita is, you should first check out our previous blog article, which answers this question in great detail. I’ll tell you here, that the vaquita is species of porpoise (a marine mammal related to whales and dolphins) found only in the Northern Gulf of California in Mexico – …
What is a Vaquita? This was the question that I asked of my friend and collaborator Sean Bogle when he called me in the summer of 2014 to tell me about an opportunity to work with the group Save the Whales on an advocacy and outreach campaign focused on this animal. The vaquita was completely unknown to me at the …
Episode Summary: Today on the show we are talking with the authors of a new children’s book about the Vaquita called, Vinny the Vaquita. Jen Gabler wrote this story with the help of her 3-year-old son Sander. We’ll be hearing from both Jen and Sander, and Jen will be sharing some great stories about this unique collaborative process. I thought …
Although we still have lots of filming ahead of us for this project, this marks the final filming expedition of this year. This story has so many complex facets that we have many more trips to Mexico and China planned for the future. As for now, we have to review everything we have captured thus far. During the last leg …