Female Vaquita are larger than males. The females grow up to 5 feet, while the male is only 4.6 feet.
Almost gone
Vaquita are:
Acrobatic swimmers
Quiet
Underwater Pandas
Innocent yet killed
Timid and shy
Almost gone
How to help
According to Viva Vaquita, some ways YOU can help the Vaquita are:
Tell all your friends and family about the Vaquita.
Support conservation measures and vote for politicians with a good environmental record.
Support the Mexican economy by traveling to Mexico.
Do not buy shrimp or fish caught with gillnets.
Write your elected officials and tell them to help the Vaquita.
Write a letter to the President of Mexico and tell him to save the Vaquita. Felipe.Calderon@presidencia.gob.mx
Send Vaquita drawings to the United Nations, asking them to support Vaquita conservation efforts by Mexico.
ExecutiveOffice@unep.org
Send a message to the Mexican government to show your support for the Vaquita! Below are the most relevant agencies and links to their online suggestion boxes:
SEMARNAT (Ministry of Natural Resources)
http://www.semarnat.gob.mx/Pages/buzonciudadano.aspx
CONANP (Commission of Natural Protected Areas)
http://www.conanp.gob.mx/buzon.php
Donate to the Vaquita Recovery Fund!
http://www.vivavaquita.org/donations.htm
WWF top 10
This is the picture shown as #5 on the WWF Top 2012 Endangered Species List
Click the link: http://news.yahoo.com/photos/wwf-s-top-2012-endangered-species-1325806837-slideshow/#crsl=%252Fphotos%252Fwwf-s-top-2012-endangered-species-1325806837-slideshow%252F-wwf-us-eugene-lee-photo-1325806257.html to see WWF’s top 10 list of endangered species to be on the look-out for in 2012. Even though the picture is depressing, it is vital for the species.
Vaquita: Last Chance for the Desert Porpoise
I recommend everyone should take 5 minutes to download the “Vaquita: Last Chance for the Desert Porpoise” movie on iTunes for free! Also found on vaquita.tv (Blogroll), it is an extremely informative movie about the Vaquita, filmed and narrated by Chris Johnson.
Hope
The water ripples.
A Vaquita breaks the surf:
The symbol of hope.
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.
Whalefest
Join ¡Viva Vaquita! at Whalefest on Saturday, January 21 from 9 am-5 pm at Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey, California! They will be giving a special lecture about the Vaquita and showing the documentary “Vaquita: Last Chance for the Desert Porpoise”. Be sure to stop by the ¡Viva Vaquita!/American Cetacean Society Monterey Bay Chapter and Save The Whales booths to learn even more about the Vaquita! More information can be found at the link below. Even though I can’t attend (ahhh, the cost of traveling), anyone near or in Cali should head over for a great experience!
http://museumofmonterey.org/PDFs/Whalefestflyer.12.22.11.pdf
2 petitions
It is really important that you sign two petitions: the Vivavaquita petition, http://www.change.org/petitions/prevent-the-extinction-of-the-vaquita-porpoise-the-worlds-most-endangered-marine-mammal, and the Save the Whales petition, http://www.change.org/petitions/save-the-vaquita-porpoise-the-worlds-most-endangered-marine-mammal, on Change.org. To sign these petitions, you must simply click the link, fill out your information, and press the sign button. If you are already a Change.org member, just log in and sign. Both petitions only need a couple hundred more signatures, so PLEASE sign them and tell all your friends. If these petitions reach their goals, the Vaquita can be saved!
Tiny porpoise
There once was a tiny porpoise
That was the opposite of enormous.
Grey on the sides,
Black mouth and eyes,
With a song as nice as a chorus.
V-log 