There once was a tiny cetacean
Not well-known in the nation.
With a fluke and a fin,
Two eyes and a chin.
The Vaquita is nature’s sensation.
Warm waters
The Vaquita is the only porpoise that lives in the warm waters of the Gulf of California.
One who has found my boat
The sea rose, engulfing the boat.
Water pouring in, twas impossible to float.
Lightning pounding, thunder resounding,
The clouds came rolling in,
Like a field of wheat in the breeze.
Finally, it was time to begin.
I unrolled the nets, set out the floats,
Baited the trap, and then let go.
About this story I have wrote
To inform you, one who has found my boat,
That on this day, a small porpoise got trapped in my nets.
Going shrimping on this day is an action I regret.
No one should set out their nets.
Burmeister’s Porpoise
The Vaquita is closely related to the Burmeister’s Porpoise.
Adiós
I swim in a place where fish float by.
Croakers, grunts, and shrimps you fry.
Silky sea grass below, shiny sun above,
But the Gulf isn’t a place filled with much love.
You catch us with nets set out for shrimp,
And at the moment of impact, our bodies go limp.
Our entire kind is quickly disappearing.
The weight of an entire species we’re bearing.
But the one thing we care about most:
Vaquita don’t have to say “Adiós”.
Size
The Vaquita is the smallest cetacean, at only 5 feet long.
The fin
A fin proudly breaks the surface, creating a ripple,
Attracting gulls, scaring fish.
The fin slowly declines, again creating a wake.
When all seems lost, it will reappear.
9 Vaquitas sighted
The Vaquita makes Mexican news! —
A very rare sighting of NINE Vaquitas took place this past weekend in the Vaquita Refuge near Rocas Consag, offshore of San Felipe, Baja California!
Little cow
Vaquita is Spanish for “little cow.”
V-log 