#vaquitacpr

Vaquita porpoise capture operations end on Sea of Cortez

David Gotfredson - Nov. 8, 2017

Scientists have decided to halt their efforts to capture endangered vaquita porpoises on the Sea of Cortez. The announcement followed the death of an adult female vaquita just hours after it was captured Saturday afternoon off San Felipe. Another vaquita calf had been captured October 18 but had to be released that same day because it was in danger of dying from stress.

“There have been no additional attempts to rescue a vaquita porpoise since November 4th and there will not be future attempts during the remaining period of the VaquitaCPR field operations,” said Steve Walker, a communications advisor with the National Marine Mammal Foundation (NMMF).

The San Diego based nonprofit has raised funds for the rescue operation – dubbed VaquitaCPR – which was aimed at establishing a captive breeding program in San Felipe. Less than 30 vaquita remain in the wild and they can only be found in the northern Sea of Cortez.

Scientists blame illegal gillnet fishing for the decline of the species.  The tiny porpoises become trapped in the abandoned “ghost nets” and drown. VaquitaCPR included an international team of some 60 scientists.  Field operations began October 12 and were supposed to last approximately one month.