The Vaquita is a porpoise, therefore in the family Phocoenidae.
Category Archives: Fact
Largest fin
Proportionally, the Vaquita has the largest dorsal fin of all the porpoises.
100 feet
Vaquita are rarely seen in water deeper than 100 feet. In fact, sometimes they go into water so shallow that their backs have to protrude from the surface!
Male and female sizes
Female Vaquita are larger than males. The females grow up to 5 feet, while the male is only 4.6 feet.
La vaquita marina
The Vaquita is called la vaquita marina in Spanish. Since vaquita means “little cow”, it cannot simply be called la vaquita, for that would cause much confusion among the Spanish community. Marina, meaning “marine”, is added to the word to show it’s a porpoise, not a bovine calf.
Scientific name
The scientific name of the Vaquita is Phocoena sinus, which loosely translates to gulf pig in Latin.
Totoaba
The initial reason of the Vaquita’s decline was its entanglement in gillnets set out for Totoaba. Totoaba are large fish in the drum family. They share the same water as the Vaquita, and because of overfishing, are also listed as Critically Endangered. Next time you eat seafood, be careful not to have Totoaba, which is often misidentified as White Sea Bass.
Panda of the sea
The Vaquita is called the “Panda of the Sea” because of its dark eye markings, but they are both endangered, lovable mammals as well.
2 years left
If the Vaquita continues to decline at the same rate as it has been, it will be extinct in 2 YEARS! We need to do something about it now, and YOU could be the one to donate the last dollar needed to set the buy-out in full swing! Check out the Blogroll to donate.
4-hour drive
The range of the Vaquita is only a 4-hour drive from San Diego!
-Thank you so much Viva Vaquita for posting my blog on your site! It means a lot to me and the Vaquita!
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