Last endangered Mexican porpoises to be rounded up by US Navy-trained dolphins Conservation plan inv
Last endangered Mexican porpoises to be rounded up by US Navy-trained dolphins
Conservation plan involves sending dolphins into Gulf of California to find vaquita and then surface to raise the alarm
Associated Press
Tuesday 3 January 2017 21.53 EST
US Navy-trained dolphins and their handlers will participate in a last-ditch effort to catch the last few dozen of Mexico’s vaquita porpoises to save them from extinction.
The trained animals will use their sonar to locate the extremely elusive vaquitas, then surface and advise their handlers.
The number of vaquitas, the world’s smallest and most endangered porpoise species, has been devastated by illegal fishing for the swim bladder of the totoaba, a fish which is a prized delicacy in China.
According to rough estimates, with the vaquita population falling by 40% a year, and only 60 alive a year ago, there could be as few as three dozen left.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/04/last-endangered-mexican-porpoises-to-be-rounded-up-by-us-navy-trained-dolphins
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Vaquitas.